Recapping Wins over Paraguay and Uruguay for the USMNT | Sunset SC Ep.04

All right, welcome into episode number four of the Sunset Soccer Club.
I'm Tyler Kern.
We are kind of ditching the previous format for this episode and just demonstrate in because
we have two US men's national team games to talk about from this window, a two to one
win over Paraguay, a five to one win over Uruguay.
I mean, it's, it's all crazy.
So here to help me break it down is ball noir.
Good buddy.
Soccer guy Daniel Roberts and Daniel, thanks for joining the show.
How you doing, man?
Thank you for that introduction.
Wow.
That's, I'll take that.
I'll take I'll take ball noir.
It's been a good week.
It's been a, it's been a shock me.
Okay.
So last week on the show, Steve and I, Steve Davis and I, Steve also ball noir.
Yeah.
Much more so than I, there are tears to this.
Well, Steve, Steve knows more ball than all of us combined.
So, you know, we've forgotten more ball than any of us know.
It's absolutely, absolutely accurate.
But Steve and I were talking about what can you really learn from two games like this?
A window like this, you know, a game against Paraguay, a game against Uruguay.
Players missing all over the place for the US men's national team guys that we would
consider regulars for this team, which we will discuss here in just a little bit because
Pochettino does not like that term as it turns out.
Guys like Weston McKinney, Christian Policic, Tyler Adams, not part of this roster.
And so therefore not playing in these two games yet the US wins anyways.
And so last week, Steve and I were talking and we kind of said, yeah, you don't really
learn a ton from this particular setup.
Well, when I said that, I don't think I expected that A, the US would win both of those games
and B, beat Uruguay five to one.
So Daniel, let's start off here.
Just what are the big takeaways that you kind of take away from these two results and from
this final camp of 2025 for the US?
Yeah, I want to be a little bit like strategic about how we kind of approach each thing
because I don't want to like talk about one thing now and then talk about it again.
Like five minutes later, right?
Because there's so much, I'm in your boat, we're going into these matches.
I was kind of like, I'm not that locked into this.
Like, look, you know, I'm an Oklahoma guy.
Oklahoma, Alabama was going on during the US, the US Terragory game on Saturday.
So of course, I've caught up on it and I'm speaking from a spot of knowledge here.
Well, I'm an A and M guy.
So I was still coming off of like the wildest comeback, the most massive swing of emotions
I've ever experienced during a sporting event in my life.
So I didn't, I didn't have this on my radar that we, you know, that I'd be looking into
this so much, but here we are.
And I think it's because like you want to go around positives.
You don't want to be talking about negativity the whole time.
And especially after that September window, things were looking rough because the players
that we were kind of like expecting to be the ones to look good didn't.
And now it turns out that like, you know, like since we're talking to Dallas people here,
everyone will know like the whole Nico Harris and like maybe now you're seeing my vision
type thing.
I feel like Puchotino could totally drop that line.
And it would hit.
And maybe now you're seeing my vision on this sort of thing when we were all like not
feeling good from the gold cup.
And now those players that were in the gold cup to me, the biggest takeaway is he found
the perfect formation.
This 352 is producing results.
It's producing good soccer on the field and it's producing confidence in the players.
And I think it's confidence from players that mostly played with him in the gold cup.
And frankly, I've had more time with a coach and understands what he wants.
So to me, it's all about that 352.
I think you're right.
I mean, I wrote down just because as I was thinking about this question that it really
feels like he has established with this group of players in particular exactly what he wants
to do and they're able to carry it out against two good opponents.
I mean, that, that Uruguay side, you know, was missing Fede Valverde and, uh, and, uh,
whom?
I think the striker, um, yeah, yeah, there's plenty of players missing, but there's still plenty
of talent.
I mean, that that still was a, a very, very talented Uruguay team.
And when I first saw the lineup that the US was rolling out for the Uruguay game, I thought,
oh my gosh, they're about to get blasted.
And so to come out and put out the kind of performance that they did and win five to
one in that match, I think says a lot.
Because when you, when you just looked at that starting 11, you, I, I don't know about
you.
I almost, I almost texted you guys because we have a big group text going, I almost texted
you guys like, oh my gosh, this team is about to just get real rooted here.
And so for them to come out and not just execute a game plan, but like thoroughly dominate
Uruguay, I thought was, was really incredible.
And, and I guess that leads to the, the follow up question of like, how much, how much does
that mean?
Like, does that, does that matter if these aren't the guys that are going to be starting
at the World Cup, or are they the guys that they're going to be starting at the World
Cup?
Well, and, and to just go back to that last point really quick too, I think the thing
that's also very encouraging is that the wins on Saturday and Tuesday came in the exact
same way in the players that were in the positions, that third center back that Alex Freeman
looked so good in overlapping with Sergenia Desk, Joe Scally looked really good in the
previous game playing in that position.
It's like the same players are being set, being set up for success, which tells you
that the, that it's sustainable.
It's not just like, oh, one player had a blinder, oh, Jey Arena had a blinder in this one
game.
Well, we need to count on that to have success at the World Cup.
It was like, no, actually this formation is setting plug and play who's there, the players
up for success, right?
So that's like super encouraging.
What does it mean?
I think, I think it means a lot more now than I would have said a week ago.
I'm with you.
Let's look at Mexico.
Mexico played these same two teams.
Mexico got boot off the field in both of those games.
They went O1 and 1.
They got boot off the field in San Antonio this weekend.
They got boot off the field in Mexico drawing the same Uruguay team, Nil Nil last weekend.
So for the US and you saw these, the celebrations, like there's a confidence and a swagger to them
that I think is very, very significant and winning is a habit.
And so for me, okay, you look at these players.
They made it to the final of the gold cup, put in a good performance in that final of the
gold cup.
Then these guys from Europe come back in that other window.
Don't play very well.
And the kind of gold cup guys come back in and crush it.
They're making things difficult for, for, for punch.
Do you, do you see a scenario where one of or maybe both of West and McKinney and Tyler
Adams don't actually start for this team next summer?
I think that Tyler Adams is in.
I think that's a tough one to, to keep off.
Tyler Adams has always been, I mean, he played in the gold cup.
Like he's always been there.
He, West and McKinney though, look, I think, and, and we'll talk about this in, in the
regulars and starters and stuff in a minute.
But I think there are a lot of players that did not play in this window that are probably
looking around like shoot suddenly my place on the roster.
If I'm West and McKinney, my place on the roster is not set in stone right now.
So yeah, I think, I think it means a lot for these players like a Max Arfton who, okay,
we can say, well, he's just an MLS guy.
He's played in every game for, poach.
Why would he suddenly get dropped right before the world cup like, like read, you know, read
what is happening.
Look at the rosters, you know?
Yeah, yeah.
And, well, and, I mean, even, even beyond that, like, I think that it's probably time
to have a real conversation about, like, is Anthony Robinson going to be healthy and actually
playing in time to be ready for the world cup?
And so you look, you look at a Max Arfton and it's been incredible to get like this much
of a look at a guy that, yes, is an MLS player, but I mean, I, I think he's played a socks
off this, this entire window and, um, and looked good in both games.
Yeah, and, and at the end of the day, results matter and we could say in the gold cut,
maybe results don't matter, but right now they certainly do.
And if you are, no one more than Puchotino, who was a disciple of Bielsa, uh, Uruguay's
coach is going to know what a, how significant of a win this was.
And as I was kind of like doing a little bit of research, I totally forgot to look this
up. Um, I'm wondering how many times Uruguay has allowed five goals in the last decade.
I mean, that, that cannot have happened very much in the last decade.
And so why, why would Puchotino change it?
And when you think about like, oh, well, bringing these big players from Europe, well,
let's think back to the last world cup.
Who made the semi finals, Morocco?
Okay, yes, they had some stars, but they also had plenty of players that you had no idea
who they were and they beat teams with household names.
So I don't, I don't think we can assume anything right now.
I think part of the advantage to Mauricio Puchotino as like the US men's national team manager.
And as I thought about this, it made so much more sense to me is that like he's not beholden
to anybody here.
And this is definitely not his dream job.
So his goal is just to come in and just like do the best job he can and not really worry
about who he's going to piss off because like as soon as the world cup is over,
he's taking another Premier League job, like this is not his forever job.
He's not trying to do two cycles here.
Whereas just about every other US men's national team manager,
it was like a goal of theirs to have that job.
That is like a dream job and they want to leave their footprints all throughout the,
like the program up and down.
Like let's vertically integrate.
Let's we're going to play out of the back and we're going to do all of these things.
Puch is just coming in and saying, I'm just coaching these guys and this is my only job.
And I'm just going to do the best damn job of it that I can and not really worry about anything else.
Nobody at US soccer needs to like him.
Weston McKinney doesn't need to like him after the World Cup and neither
discretion, policy or anything like that.
His job is just to do the best he can with these players.
And I think that there's some freedom in that.
Well, and again, these like non household names.
If you're saying like, oh, well, surely Max Arstin can't start over Anthony Robinson.
Why?
Yeah.
If he's doing it against Uruguay.
And by the way, you know, you're only going to be playing like when you think about it,
how many better teams in Uruguay?
Are you going even if you made the semi finals of the World Cup?
How many teams better than Uruguay?
Are you going to play on that road?
He needs players that he can trust that are not going to have one performance up here.
And one performance down here, you need to get at least four points out of the group.
Because obviously like top three teams, you know, two plus make it.
Four points is going to get you out of the group.
Then you roll your dice.
You see who you get, et cetera.
But he's going to need these guys who are producing consistent performances.
That's what he's getting.
And with 48 teams in the World Cup this year, there's an extra round.
So depth in a squad is essential.
And I think that even if it does end up where some of the regulars,
and let me actually get to that quote by Mauricio Pachatino here after I've finished this thought,
even if some of the regulars do come back and do kind of play starting roles and starring roles,
you're going to have to rotate that squad at some point.
Or you're going to have yellow card accumulation,
just different things that are going to come up that are going to require you to play other players.
Here's what happened in the post game press conference.
The first two questions were about the team and kind of the makeup of the team,
being that a lot of the the court and court regular starters aren't there.
You're your politics, you're Adams, you're McKinney's, you're even Chris Richards, guys like that.
And Pach very much did not like those questions.
He said, I hate the no regular players question.
What does this mean?
It's USA playing.
It's the national team.
Stop with that mindset.
Every time our decision to pick a starting 11, it's the US men's national team playing.
So he went on to kind of like continue to hammer home the fact that he'd hated those questions about regular players and like the regular starters.
And I think that's kind of fascinating the way that like, like we're discussing, like it doesn't matter where a player came from.
If you're playing well for Pachatino, if you're playing well for the national team and you're starting,
then who's to say you're not a regular player?
Who's to say that Max Arthson is not the regular left wing back at this point?
Or that Alex Freeman is not the regular right center back just because like they're not like the person that you might consider to be in that role.
Yeah, and like players get better, players get worse like and the results have not been there.
That's why he is coaching the team and not Greg Berhalter is because the quote unquote regular players did not get results.
So who's to say those are regular players?
It's bizarre to even think about that as a national team.
This isn't a club team where you're limited on the players you can get.
And like I said earlier, look at the players who have been playing for him.
Like most of these guys are the same guys he's been calling up.
You know, obviously there's a few guys and there's probably ways you could phrase that question that he would probably react better to.
Like, oh, maybe this one guy performed better.
Like, oh, you called up a guy who hasn't been playing much and he played well like Georena obviously is not a regular player.
But who else is not the regular players at this point?
It's and I understand why he's saying that because he's like, what are you talking about?
Like what is this mentality?
And he probably doesn't like that mentality for his players because he doesn't want Western McKinney to think his job is set in stone because it's not.
Yeah, and you know, I think I think I've heard other managers in the past be like, there's no guaranteed spots.
No one, you know, everyone has to come in here and earn their spot and work just as hard and that sort of thing.
And you kind of hear that and you're like, yeah, okay, but you know, and I think this is the case where like I think I think I believe him the most at this point
because I really, really do think he doesn't care.
He just wants guys to get like, yeah, there's two games left because you have the window in March,
which is probably going, it's going to be Portugal, which I saw Rinaldo is at the White House.
I think they are yesterday or so.
He was.
Yeah.
So it's going to be Portugal and it's going to be Belgium.
Those are the two teams you're going to play in March in Atlanta.
And then it's the pre tournament camp and you have two more games, but which obviously the pre tournament camp will be a bigger selection of players.
But at this point, there's basically two games and then and then it's, it's time to name a roster pretty much.
So like, again, why would he go away from the players who are playing for him the whole time?
Things can change with injuries and all of that.
But I feel pretty confident that you look at the roster that was there.
This window, obviously, Pulisic is going to make the team, but okay, the Sendejas sergeant way, I mean way is going to make the team.
But Tillman, Weston, Tyler Adams, like, where are you pulling?
Like five, six guys off of the team that played this last week.
It's a great question.
And speaking of that, let's, let's talk a little like just individual players and performances that you saw and maybe some guys that help their case for being on that roster.
Maybe some guys that heard it will do a little stock up, stock down.
My first stock up and you mentioned him twice was Geo Reina.
I mean, scored a goal against Paraguay and came on and had a nice cameo and assist for Tanner Testman's goal, the fifth and final goal for the U.S. against Uruguay.
I mean, he played more soccer in a week for the U.S. than it feels like he's played in a year at his club team.
But my gosh, every time he gets out there, he looks good.
Yeah, and you know, you're the Bundesliga guy, like, he's just got to play like, he's still needs to play.
Like, and he's with a good club team, he needs to put it together in the Bundesliga, but of course, like, stock up for him though is like going from a penny stock to maybe, you know, he's not on, he's not in the S&P 500 yet, right?
Like, he's got to get a little bit higher before we can put him in that level.
I still don't think if we're talking in March, is he going to be on that roster?
I don't think he is, but he certainly didn't do himself any harm.
I mentioned a name to you, Sergenio Dest, for me, his stock is up because he's putting together these minutes now.
He's finally healthy, he's playing for PSV, who's top of the table with the bullet in, you know, in Holland, and playing every minute for PSV, he's playing in the Champions League.
And I just put him as one of those guys that takes you from being a World Cup also ran, if he is playing well, the ceiling for the United States with what they do in the 352, they need that attacking outside back, they need a guy who can score a goal out of nowhere, which he's done.
Yeah, big games, that to me is like, not only stock up for him, but stock up for the national team, because if he's not healthy, yeah, I love what Alex Freeman is doing, but if he's not healthy, the stock is down for the team.
Love him and just stock up for the outside backs in general.
You know, he, I'm trying to, I don't remember specifically what match it was, and I feel like it was a big one, where he cut in from the right on his left foot and just ripped a shot.
Like, do you know the goal I'm talking about?
Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about.
I want to say it was, was it turning out, no, it wasn't turning out.
It was, it was a big game, though.
I think maybe it was in Conca Caff Nation's League or something like that, but I know exactly the goal you're talking about.
You're like, we need this guy.
Like, you have to have in World Cup games where it's so close, you need game changers and he is a game changer.
And honestly, like, it's, it's so weird to say because like, but I think the same of Georena, but I totally agree.
He has to play, but like every time he gets out there, he just does something.
You're like, well, gosh, like, all right, like, I've always been of the opinion with him that like managers, he, he has played for a ton of different managers,
and they've all come to the same conclusion that he just like cannot start.
And a lot of it is injuries and some of it is effort and some of it is immaturity.
But every time he's on the field, I'm like, gosh, he does something good and it just, it drives me a little bit crazy.
I will say to you, if like, it's tough to really say like stock down in general when you just put in these performances that the team did.
Like, I wouldn't say anyone's, it's, it's a very, you're, you're nitpicking at this point.
Brandon Erenson for me, stock down because there are so many, he didn't, he didn't do anything that wowed you.
He didn't do anything that was like overly ambitious.
And when you look at his position on the field, that second striker, that, I mean, that's politics in the 352.
That's a policy spot.
Yeah.
And that, you know, there's a lot of players that can play under that.
If Reyna's playing well, if Diego Luna's playing well, you know, if, if these guys are doing all this, Brandon Erenson's a guy that I'm not sure his spot on the roster is set in stone at this point either.
Now, he didn't play bad, like again, it's nitpicking.
But for me, if we're going to talk about a guy where maybe the stock went down a little bit, that's probably the one.
Can I submit to you perhaps Ricardo Peppy, which hurts me a little bit to say?
I mean, look, it's, it's small sample size.
Ricardo Peppy is a guy that, if he's healthy, he's going to be on the roster.
He's been scoring in the Champions League.
I think he's got what two game winning or game tying goals in, in stoppage time.
I think I think it's three, which is like tied for the record.
OK, so like he had a bad miss, but he's not a guy that you worry about.
You want him healthy?
You want him scoring goals for PSV?
I can't see him missing the roster.
I think you're right.
I can't see him missing the roster.
I'm just saying, like, I think the pecking order is becoming a little bit more solidified,
because I think, I think, I think Baligan is clearly the top striker at this moment for
pochettino.
Nice goal, right.
Nice goal against Paraguay.
And he combines well with Policic and that three, five, two, wins, duels.
And hey, if Peppy is scoring off the bench for his club in massive games,
champagne problems like perfect player to have coming off the bench for the United States.
I think that's a great way to put it, that he is, generally, I think it was a little
surprising to see him miss that opportunity against Paraguay because that is just like what
he excels at.
He's just like such a ruthless killer in front of goal at times.
And so it's just strange to see him miss that, which I think caught my attention.
Yeah, I worry about Ford so that aren't getting in the spots.
Like if you're missing the chance, that's one thing.
I'm worrying about the guy that's not getting in the spot.
And we've seen that with other guys, not in this camp, but like a Josh Sargent who's
like, he's not even getting in the spots.
And it's like, if you're not affecting the game and you're not getting in those areas,
that to me is a bigger red flag.
I can't see a guy like Peppy who, you know, has scored big goals, has played well for
the national team.
It's tough to put him too far down.
And against if we're talking about like stock up, also, it's like that third center back
position, just being given the freedom to go forward, Alex Freeman, two goals, which
by the way, Orlando City is going to make a lot of money on that guy.
Yeah.
He's, he's right on the cusp, I hope he doesn't move in this like window.
And again, I know MLS just changed their window.
And obviously this won't be an issue for the next World Cup, but this is like the perfect,
you know, test case for why the MLS window moving is so good because you're not going
to have a guy like Alex Freeman, potentially switching teams in the middle of a season
and stuff like that where it doesn't make any sense.
Maybe he goes to a new team this winter and then just doesn't play as he's betting
in.
You don't want that.
But that third center back role being given all the freedom to move forward because
there's that cover behind them.
Mm-hmm.
Love that.
I love that too.
I think that that was a really, really encouraging thing from this, from this particular
window.
And I'm with you.
I really, really hope Alex Freeman just stays at Orlando for this off season, just
like everyone, stay put, stay healthy.
If you're getting regular playing time, like just don't rock, don't rock that boat.
I get it.
It's funny.
It's funny too because, you know, we always asked this question like 10, 15 years ago,
what if America's best athletes played soccer?
And now we're getting, you know, he's the son of Antonio Freeman.
Like now we're getting NFL wide receivers, sons playing for the US national team.
Like this is the answer, right?
Like it's only going to keep happening.
What if our best athletes played soccer?
Like he could very easily be playing wide receiver for Oklahoma or Texas A&M right now.
But instead he's scoring goals and he's probably going to go to the World Cup.
You love it.
You do love it.
You really, really love it.
Alex Freeman with two goals against Uruguay.
Another player scoring his first international goal for the US, Seb Berhalter.
I thought he was a massive stock up.
I thought he was great against Uruguay and I did not really see that coming.
Our buddy Armand Kaffai was saying that Seb is the truth and he was pretty hyperbolic.
I thought he was great.
It's such a packed position.
Like that's the only thing, right?
It's who's your three if you're going to have Tyler Adams very likely starting.
Yep.
I could see Berhalter getting in, but there's, you know, Malik Tillman in there as well,
who's obviously going to have plenty to say about that.
You just look down the list.
Even a guy like Johnny Cardozo, who we haven't heard from in a while,
who's, you know, maybe not even going to make the roster.
Weston, obviously, especially in a three-man midfield.
That's where Weston shines because he can move outside.
So, you know, we've talked a little bit about his spot might not be safe,
but it's going to be a packed midfield.
We'll see what happens, but he looks great.
What else can you do?
He looks great and now he's going to play against L.A.F.C.
in a huge playoff game on Saturday or Sunday for Vancouver against L.A.F.C.
Like, again, what more can they do?
Yeah, yeah, I mean, he looked, I thought he looked really, really great.
So, again, that's that kind of is those two games and the players.
We saw any other players stand out to you from this, from this particular window
or any other spots.
I mean, you mentioned the big ones.
It's that third center-back spot.
I thought was very much like up for grabs coming up, coming into this camp
and I think you're right that like people are kind of pushing themselves forward
and then also like that center-back spot.
Like, there's Tyler Adams and then I think there's like a spot next to him
that could be, well, that could be testament.
Yeah, yeah.
And I mean, I think the other big question is just going to be
someone's going to get left out between like Diego Luna, Brandon Erenson and Alex and Dejas.
One of them is probably going to get left out
because I can't see why you would keep all three of them.
Because Zendaihas can play on the wings.
He can also play in the middle.
Erenson can play in the middle, not great on the wings.
Like, Luna, very good in the middle, probably the best of those three in the middle
at creating that chance, but not really a winger.
So when you just kind of do the math and you're like, well, if it's a 26-man roster,
not all these players can make it, that's kind of what you're looking for.
Now, we've got four months now for these players to go off to their national
or their club teams, see what they can do.
But that's kind of the other big thing.
Yeah, it's tough because like you think of players that can do a job for you
in a specific situation.
Like I think Erenson will like absolutely like press his ass off,
like to win the ball back against teams that will possess a little bit more.
So you can see like a scenario for an Erenson.
You can see a scenario for different guys, but you can only take so many.
So how do you diversify your roster as much as possible for all of the different
different scenarios that you might run into at a World Cup?
While also maximizing quality, I guess, I think is the biggest question.
So like I like Erenson.
I like a little bit of what he brings, but it's not in every game type of,
he's not an every game type of starter player.
And so is it worth bringing a guy that is not a Swiss Army knife,
that is very much a specialist for that particular scenario?
And if it doesn't show up then like,
he's a 100 rating at that spot, but he's, you know,
and that's where you look at like Kellyn Acosta made the last World Cup team
because he was the Swiss Army knife and because he could do all of these things.
Totally.
And that's why we say like a Weston McKinney may or may not made a team will look.
He can play outside back, he can play in the midfield.
He's going to make the team because he's very versatile in that aspect.
So which one of these kind of champagne guys between Reyna, Luna, Erenson,
someone's getting left off, who's it going to be?
Yeah, it's, I think that will be a big question coming down to it.
You are like the, the UV whisperer.
So what is going on with Weston at, at Juventus right now,
a new manager with Luciana Spiletti.
Spiletti of the gigantic Napoli tattoo on his forearm.
Hey, he's a winner.
He's a winner.
I mean, he is a winner.
He is a winner.
There's tons of games now.
You know, now that the international break is done for four months,
this is kind of when, you know, no one's going to be traveling.
Everyone's going to be locking into their, their club team.
And he's been playing a lot of minutes.
It's just again, you said it like Puchotino's not married to anyone here.
He doesn't have a legacy beyond 2026.
He's picking the players that can win at this moment.
And, and right now it hasn't been Weston.
Weston hasn't played almost at all.
So he's going to get his chance.
But right now, I think he's behind a lot of players.
It's going to be fascinating.
I mean, I, I can't wait to see how this roster shakes out.
I can't wait to see what the March window looks like.
It's, it's all going to be, it's all going to be awesome.
But it's hard to have anything but really, really good vibes after two wins.
It's, it's huge, right.
And that's where it's like, well, what is the significance of these wins?
The significance is, you're going into four months of, of optimism now.
You know, when September, it was looking very, very poor.
Now we're looking at four months of optimism.
I'm sure they're going to announce the, the Portugal and Belgium
friendlies here in the next few weeks.
And, and you know, if you're a fan, you could go to, they're both going to be in Atlanta.
So you can go to Atlanta, see, you know, just, just, you know, park up there
for about four or five days.
You're going to get to see the team play.
I think now, you know, I'm more optimistic.
I'm more excited about it now than I've been.
I mean, me and Armand, we've got our, we've already got tickets to the game in Seattle.
So we're, yeah, we're excited.
Oh, man, it's, it's a, it's a good time.
It's an exciting time.
It, let's wrap up and talk about one other team that just qualified for the World Cup.
Uh, you and I were both watching the Scotland match.
Scotland, Mark, to make it into the World Cup.
One of the most batshit crazy matches I have ever watched.
Uh, it was, Scotland could have gotten through on a draw.
Sorry, Denmark could have qualified for the World Cup on a draw.
Scotland needed the win.
Scotland came out with a banger of an overhead kick goal by Scott McTominay for the first goal.
Uh, they just kept going back and for, I mean, just one of the most wild matches I've ever seen.
Well, yeah, you've got to watch the highlights if you haven't seen it.
And TK, I want to tell you.
So two summers ago, our Monkified and I went to Germany for the Euros.
And we were, we didn't go to the game, but we were in Munich for the opening match,
which was Scotland versus Germany in Munich.
Streets were filled one of the coolest nights of my life, right?
And wherever they get drawn, that city is not prepared for Scotland in their first,
and by the way, their first World Cup in 30 years since 1998.
America is not ready for this, they are not ready for the Scottish army.
And the best thing about it is, couldn't be more fun people.
There wasn't a hint of, you know, violence or worry.
It was packed with all sorts of races and nations and everything in the city center of Munich.
And everyone couldn't have had a better time.
So it's, it's everything you want from, you know, a country like that without any
of the things you don't want, but boy, if anyone listening, if you have,
if if Scotland gets drawn in Dallas, it's going to be absolute mayhem.
They are going to be a million Scotsman invading the United States in the best way possible.
I can't wait.
I'm trying to decide like what would be like the best city for them to be drawn to.
Austin, maybe I mean, yeah, I'm, I almost wish like we could get
add another host city and have it be like Madison, Wisconsin.
All right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, can the city be, can the city would be pretty awesome.
If you've been to like power and light district, if it's complete,
if it just turns into downtown Glasgow, like that would be awesome.
I kind of love to see them get drawn to play like Mexico and Mexico City.
That would be pretty fun.
You know, but this is where like dude, we're what two and a half weeks
from the draw, like it's just like, it's right around the corner.
I can't wait.
I was, it just, it's neaks up on you.
And I think this week got me so excited for what's coming.
Man, you know, it's really easy because you and I consume a lot of soccer stuff.
And I think when you do that, sometimes it's really easy to see Johnny and Fentino
with Trump at the White House.
And it's really easy to see satirebia buying clubs and guitar buying world cups.
And all of that sort of stuff that like any time there's like a
Scotland making the world cup, and it's just like pure good sports emotion.
Like it helps remind me like why I love this sport so much because sometimes
it's very easy to be jaded about like the amount of money and the amount of
just like crap that goes on in this sport.
But like watching the excitement and like just the absolute joy on the faces
of like the Scottish fans was just like totally worth it.
Well, I'm here to tell you like for all those people listening, if you've never
been to a major international tournament, if you've never had this stuff,
you don't even need to buy tickets to the games or Scotland is playing.
Just go to that city.
Like I'm praying Dallas gets a Scotland match because you know, I live in East
Dallas pretty close to you near the park.
I have heard that, you know, that's where the fan fest is going to be a fair
park, right?
If Scotland is playing in Dallas, there are going to be a hundred thousand
people in fair freaking park, like just checking out the cotton bowl, you know,
walking down the Esplanado in the, maybe the automobile building, you know,
like these things for me, this gives me joy thinking of all these Scottish
people coming to Dallas and walking through fair park.
And this, you know, because when we were in Germany for the Euros, the fan fest,
even when we didn't go to a game, like the fan fest in every city was so fun.
It was full of fans from those different countries because you got to remember,
people travel without tickets like from all over the world to go to these games.
That's what you need to plan for is like, you don't have to go to every game at
AT&T stating you don't have to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars.
Just go to the fan fest, find places, find the cool spots to watch the games.
Whatever cities are drawn into Dallas, we're going to be getting, you know,
okay, maybe not like Curacao.
If they spent, if they sent 10% of their population to Dallas, that's not even,
that's like Bedford, right?
So, you're right.
You know, I don't know that that's going to be the case,
but I'm going to be so excited to just see like which cities are going to be
sending their fan bases to Dallas, going to fair park, going to the Londoner,
going to these different spots and just interacting with them.
Because that was the most fun part of the Euros, you know, when we went,
I don't, I don't, I'm not from Italy, like, yes, I wanted Italy to win.
Italy wasn't playing in it, you know, like it's about interacting with the fans.
It's about meeting people from other cultures.
It's about presenting your culture where they may think Texas is doubt.
The TV show Dallas, which I guarantee you, that's what they think it is.
Totally.
We live to here.
We know that is not what Dallas for worth is.
So being able to meet people, make these interactions, make these friends that you
keep up with on, you know, you get their WhatsApp, your texting them,
like you keep up with these friends for life.
And then when the US plays in another country, you're going to their country,
it's, you know, et cetera.
This is what the World Cup is about.
This is what you should be looking forward to rather than spending, you know,
$300, $400 seeing clowns at the White House, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know,
that's what this is what it's about.
And this is what you should get excited for.
Good stuff.
Hell yeah.
Hell yeah.
I'm hyped.
I'm hyped.
D Rob, thank you for doing this.
Ultimate ball.
No, good dude.
Thanks a guy.
Thanks for lifting my pleasure.
Absolutely.
Everyone, thank you for tuning into episode number four of the Sunset Soccer Club.
Is that right?
Four episode number four.
We appreciate it very much.
Make sure to go follow us on Instagram at Sunset Soccer Club.
Email the show.
If you have questions, if you want to ask about the US roster, anything like that,
anything you heard us talk about, email the show Sunset Soccer Club at stolenwatermedia.com.
I think that's it for this episode.
Thanks for tuning in.
We'll catch you next time.