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Puntzer World Cup 2026: The Final S01E06
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In this episode, Luke and Alex analyze the recent World Cup semi final matches between France and Spain, and England and Argentina, tactics, player performances, and managerial decisions, providing deep insights into the tournament's key moments and outcomes.
They also look ahead tothe big final on Sunday between Spain and Argentina, vamosss!
X/Twitter: @ie_puntzer
A Spanish master class and an English capitulation. That's the story of the World Cup 2026 semi-finals. Joined with me today, as usual, is Alex, the big man from Canada. How's it going over there, Alex?
SPEAKER_01Good morning, Luke. Good morning. Didn't like the intro, but you know, uh I was thinking a bit more piano and violin songs will be playing a bit to get my mood a little bit more smooth. Not for me. All good over here. Morning time Canada forest fires are over. All the smoke out the sky seems to have died down. So we had two days of no one was out on the streets or out on the football field. So uh it's nice to have some blue sky today over there.
SPEAKER_02Glad to hear everyone's okay over there. Um I mean thinking back to the Spain-France game, it feels like six years ago at this point, it feels like so long. I mean, the so much happened in the Argentina England game and the fallout that it almost feels like they're you forget about the France-Spain game. But if you can go back to it, I mean, I don't think we particularly learned anything new, but I think we were surprised that like we knew Spain good and had this probably in them, but I think they took it to another level that that we expected. What how did you see the game?
SPEAKER_01Uh one of them, I think Spain, all credit 100% to them, fantastic team, coached very well, emotions very um professional, responsible, no reactions and wildness. Really good to see that for the game, especially for young players coming up. France, I just thought absolute like flops for the for the for the talent for the major heavyweight players that they have to just be completely sort of like distant from that scoring goals, attacking. I just was watching thinking, what's happening here? Like, I don't understand where tactics in World Cup semi-finals is about passion and emotion and drive and and the moments. Tactics, they're gonna what you Dejamps even Mbappe had said. And I get emotional this sort of stuff because obviously I I I you support, you want someone to win, maybe, but then when you're watching two heavyweights like that, and one of them just stands around the ring and just getting punched all the time. I was just like, De Champs, what tactics are you using here? And Mbappe did come out and say, Look, I think I did well for what I was told to do, so credit to him. Because we're looking at Mbappe saying, Hey shit, what's he doing? This is this is a guy that wants to win uh Ballon d'Ir, golden boot of the World Cup. And the guy was just like like a like a standard average player, just sort of one of them third strikers coming on the bench and just getting involved. Um, so really disappointed to see France didn't even contest with Spain, but congratulations to Spain. Um does it make sense?
SPEAKER_02Is it logical to say that Spain were really good and France were terrible? Or is it not a case of or is it a case of France were really bad, so it made Spain look good, or Spain were really good and didn't allow France to play? I think we can't say France were terrible, but Spain were amazing, you know. I mean we can, but I guess logically it's like it doesn't really it would be rare that it would work like that. Spain obviously had a game plan. I think France hadn't come up, hadn't had that type of challenge before. They probably haven't had that challenge since the last time they played Spain, when Spain won. And I said we we spoke about France will suffer if they can't get the ball, and it'll be an interesting challenge to see how they respond to that. And I think what we saw was that they didn't respond to it very well.
SPEAKER_01No, no. Um yeah, going back to, as I said, always I I would never take nothing from Spain. Were Spain challenged enough by a strong, strong contender to win the World Cup, that's where I see did Spain react to anything? Did they need to go through an emotional kind of stress where they're like, oh, it's 1-1 now? You know, did they try did France really try to lay it on them like they did against if you okay? Obviously games are all different, right? And we know each game in the World Cup, it's a different challenge, different, different team, different sort of characters. But if you take Argentina, the last World Cup final against uh sorry, France, that team playing come coming back against Argentina, that was unreal. Mbappe hat trick volleying the ball from uh just inside the box uh against a world-class goalkeeper, it's it's unheard of. Now you go for four years on, they have the same players, and even obviously some of them are even better for their clubs and winning at Dambele, winning the Ballon d'Or. And they just didn't show up, but not because taken away from Spain, because they did their game plan. But what I mean is, Lucas, like being thrown at them, so then Spain's game plan will get unraveled. So then it's like now it's more like, oh, here we go, boy, tactics are sort of going out the window a bit, it's getting now like and it that's what happened in the World Cup final last time. The tactics just went out because you can't tactically mark Mbappes and Messi's and Di Maria's before. There's no tactics that can do that. You can try it, you can try to you know double up on players, but it was just a bit disappointing because it became a bit flat after a while. You could see Spain's uh Pedro Porro's second goal, great goal, one-two around the box. Um, and then after that, it was just kind of like you saw Mbappe kind of just looked on the camera when he'd done that sort of face, and they you knew already they're going out. You just couldn't see a fight where Argentina going back for all the games, and even the Cape Verdes, and you saw teams fighting, they're given that energy. And I just thought they listened to Deschamps, he's leaving anyway, so he was just like, you know, this is how we're gonna try and hold Spain off. You don't do that in semi-finals, hold hold teams and low blocks. It's ridiculous, a waste of time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there were two things that stood out for me. I think we spoke before again about Spain, one of their weaknesses is actually scoring goals, and they kind of got that given to them, they got a penalty given to them, which of course it was a penalty, but it's one of those stupid ones, you know. Like we all accept that it's a penalty, but it's like, come on, it's stupid. Like, and so that big challenge for Spain, which is scoring goals, kind of got handed to them. And early on, I think it was around 30 minutes or so, so then suddenly that just changes the whole game because Fran Spain don't concede goals, they conceded one goal all tournament, they don't really concede goals. So, as soon as Spain got that, then I for me it was game over, and it and it looked like that, you know. And I also think like going back to what we were talking about, like we've celebrated and praised Olisse a lot in this tournament, and he's deserved it. I said in the last podcast that six months ago I wouldn't have even thought about if you had asked me to name the top 40 players in the world, I probably wouldn't have thought of Olysse, you know, he wouldn't have come to my mind. I don't pay much attention to the Bundesliga. I I watched the big games, that's it. But I think what we saw there was as well, and I'm not just blaming Olysse, I'm not saying it's his fault that France lost, but he I don't I think we're quick to praise him for a few games in the Champions League and a few games in the World Cup, and the reality is the World Cup, the level isn't very high. Um and in the Champions League, he had a great performance against Real Madrid, the Real Madrid team who aren't the strongest. And I think my my point being that I think they really miss Griezmann. Griezman did that role so well, linked midfield to defence, and in this game against Spain, he just they just looked it's two midfielders against the three Spanish. Any any three midfielders in the world, take them for any three in the world, are gonna struggle against that Spanish three. And so the fact that you don't even have three, you have two, because at least it didn't play that role, he didn't do it, didn't do it well enough anyway. He was trying to do the Grieasman role and he didn't do it, and I think that just made it so much easier. And then Rabbi was exactly what I thought he was, which wasn't the player who at the beginning of the tournament I said, I don't know how this midfield can win, but Rabbiot didn't he looked great early on in his career, but he's not he's not had the career he probably could have had from uh ability wise, he seems to be a bit of a head case to be honest.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I mean, it just it yeah, I I 100% at least say it looked like he was a bit lost, and he did look like at certain places looked like he was a kid walking around in the playground like playing and he's in a World Cup semi-final, and I think a lot of the French players kind of looked like that because of what Deschants had told them to do, because you could clearly see there was no free flow individually, there wasn't like you know, and even when they got high numbers up the field, Mbappe felt he was on his own, yeah, you know, in in that it was it was a 4-2-3-1, but it kind of looked like it was a four-two, and then them them all them five weight, and then the ball's just up there with Mbappe, and he's kind of like cutting it back because there's too many Spanish. Um, but uh do you know Elise didn't score a goal in the World Cup.
SPEAKER_02No, so I mean I I I wouldn't put too much focus on that because that's not necessarily his role, especially I think after early on he did kind of become that or was designed to become that kind of more midfielder type player. But I I just don't think his his performances were or well, his performance against Spain just he was anonymous. But they all were, I'm not just picking on him, but he's the guy who's filming the Griezmann role in theory, and they missed Griezmann.
SPEAKER_01He needed uh he needed to step up a little bit more, but I just thought they were all starving of possession, and they of course it's Spain, they they wanna they want to do that, they want to starve you out, so then you obviously you start you know going a bit sort of space spatial where you're not sure what you're doing because it's like you're just now off the ball, off the ball, off the ball. Suddenly you get it, and then you're like, oh, I've got it, and now I'm like I want to I want to dribble a bit, I want to hold on to it. And it's like you know, so obviously that they did such a great job of of on the mindset of France that it reminded me to be fair, Luc, the the 98 World Cup when Brazil just completely looked like and they were this is one of the greatest teams of all time, and they just when we were watching, I remember that it was like, oh my god, Brazil are like, and then suddenly boom, 2-0 France, and then you're just looking at Ronaldo's face, exactly that's what pictured with with Mbappe.
SPEAKER_02He just was standing there like, I can't believe this is a comparison, it's a great comparison because obviously at the time we knew that Ronaldo had been not down to start, and then he's down to start, and everyone's like, What the hell's going on? But but you kind of forget about that, you kind of think, oh, this is amazing, Ronaldo's fit, he's gonna he's gonna play, and it was his big he'd been great in the tournament, there was so much hype about him, we were all excited, and it was the same thing with Mbappe. We're like after a long season with Real Madrid, he scored loads of goals, but Real Madrid fans weren't happy with him, and we're and then we see this World Cup, he comes out, he's scoring goals, he looks fantastic, looks happy with your great comparison, it's a great comparison because you're just looking at them, especially when Spain score or when France score those goals in '98. You're like, okay, Ronaldo, it's up to you now. Mbappe, it's up to you now. And it's like just nothing happening.
SPEAKER_01It is it, and even when I I was just frozen, I was like, well, Spain are going through then. Okay, so Spain in the final. And that was it was half an hour to go. I was like, no, Spain in the final, so tonight hurry up and Argentina.
SPEAKER_02You know, so no, I I totally agree. And that actually brings us on nicely to the next game as well. So Argentina, England. I mean, it was kind of everything.
SPEAKER_01I have to go now.
SPEAKER_02Don't worry. I could talk about this. I can talk about this in my own for the next three days anyway. So I've got to go get the dog pieces, the superstore's closing, so I've got to go. It was, it was amazing. Look, I don't like I don't want to just talk and hammer Tuchel because a lot of that has already been done. But what I'd love to ask you about, you're uh you're a manager. What I want to know is so the way I saw the game, right? I s I turned around to Adriana when when England scored, and I said, Argentina gonna win this game, yeah. Because it's been the pattern of Argentina's games. They I knew exactly England were gonna drop off and Argentina had half an hour to score, and I knew if they scored one, they would score two. I knew that. I I might have thought that it would go to extra time, but Argentina would have all the momentum and they would go for. But the narrative since then has been that Tuchel made these changes, completely changed the game, threw it away, but the first substitution didn't happen for nearly 20 minutes after England went 1-0 up, and you can see on the sideline when when Argentina tip off, England press. England are pushing up and pressing them, and as the game develops, they start dropping back. They got caught on the on the break at one point, and that seemed to scare the life out of them a little bit. There's footage of Tuchel going mad, telling them screaming at them to get up the pitch. They obviously don't do that. There's actually at the in the same in the footage I saw, there's another bit where Anthony Gordon, who's come off at this point, is telling to drop off, while Tuca's going, get up, and they drop off, you know. And then the change, the big change with Dan Byrne coming on and O'Reilly coming on happens on 82 minutes, so nearly 30 minutes or so after England got one up, and that's when. So the narrative has been that Tuchel killed England here. I don't think that's the case. So the what I want to know from your point of view, from a manager's point of view England are under a lot of pressure. They're main men, it seems logical. Okay, we get a rash for it on, we play a long ball, we catch them on the break, something like what Egypt did to Argentina. But Bellingham and Kane are gone. Kane dropping off into midfield. I don't like it anyway. I think as a centre forward he should be up there. But I understand if he drops, he creates base, Bellingham gets him in line. But neither of them are doing that. Kane was just dropping off, then so far deep that there was no pressure on Argentina. Bellingham wasn't getting up. He actually got dispossessed for the goal for one of the goals. Both of them looked out in their feet. So Tuchel didn't really I like in my like what do you think what would you have done in Tuchal's position there? And at what time? So England, let's say in this situation, England go one-nil up, there's 30 minutes to go. How does it how do you see the game at that point from a manager's point of view?
SPEAKER_01Well, especially in my my way of of of managing and and my sort of you know philosophies, um, I think the best way to to be in that situation is is keep attacking because it will be the best form of defense if you can keep your numbers high in Argentina's half, which they started. As soon as I saw England start like that, I thought, oh, here we go. They've done a nice press, they were electric, Argentina lost it, went out for a throw in the first two minutes. They were a bit like, oh my god, they're you know, and I think that's that that sort of plan. Um, Argentina have been over the World Cup, they've been a bit rattled on, and I think that that's how you've got to keep going because the players saw it kind of worked, and that 15 minutes, I thought, wow, England are really in their half. And then, of course, Argentina caught them on that break, and I thought, oh, they they still England, I think they forgot that how dangerous Argentina are. Like, and then suddenly, and I thought Argentina's plan, they might have thought, again, they're a high-energy athletic team, lots of strong runners, lots of sort of good strong legs that really last all the way. A lot of South American teams you can see, they start to slow it down because they want to catch that second wind when they want it. Um, after the goal, as you said, I thought, okay, there's the goal. Now go and kill the game, now go and get another one. Get the get get players on. The moment if Argentina have seen Saka coming on, Rashford coming on, Scaloni would have been like, oh boy, like they've got runners coming on here. Didn't happen. So of course, I was still thinking, all right, 1-0. Then you started to see the dropping off, the dropping off, dropping off. I I said to the the people I was with watching the game, I already knew, and you know me as a as a coach, even we've debriefed games after or whatever. I knew already, I said, they're gonna score. And when I have that sense, whatever I have, um hopefully it wins me a Champions League one day. Um I knew already, and I know the Argentinian mentality and the way England were dropping off, I was affuming. And I think at that point when they did that, that was the best time to say no. Now, am I blaming Tuchol? Yes, there's there's 100% responsibility there. But at the same time, I agree with what Graham Sooner said the other day, that players have to take responsibility as well. Because if you're on the field sometimes, you're not disrespecting the coach, but you need a leader, which Declan Rice is not, which everyone thinks this some world-class, phenomenal player that no one's ever seen before. You've got to turn around and say, guys, let's get up the field. Come on, I don't care. Let's get up, up. We're we're sitting here letting them onslaught. I said already Pickford, sorry, it sounds like I'm on a rant now. I said Pickford will will concede in a minute because when you make four world-class saves, the next one's a goal. A keeper cannot do any more. You can't make ten of them. Come on, Luke, you know what I mean? You can't be like, oh, he's in the top corner now, now he's a bottom corner, now he's up in the top. Now he's a Pickford will be like, boys, like what's what's and when you when you at 25 minutes to go, the onslaught from Argentina, as soon as the goal went in, I thought, okay, England, now make a game of it. Now go get at them. Tuchel, put Rashford on, Saka on, Ezzy, or whoever you want. You know, move change the formation. Make Argentina think, oh my god, like this game is so open. Organize the chaos. The same as like Egypt, I just organize that that madness where World Cup tactics two chill gun out window. What did he decide to do? He done it personally as his own nerves. He did it, he wasn't doing it as in the sense of you're 2-0 up, and then you sort of like slow the game down a bit. That's tactical where I understand you're you're resting the legs a bit semi-final, we can see it out. Like 25 minutes to go, doing a low block on your on your penalty box. And then you've got Harry Kane should have come off. He didn't even touch the ball in Argentina's box the whole of the game. Like, there's stats that were showing. I don't know what his his coaching staff were doing to say, like, Thomas, like Harry Kane hasn't touched the ball in Argentina's box for the whole game. Like, maybe we should.
SPEAKER_02I think that's an issue though. I think that's Harry Kane's decision. He we've seen him do it for Bull for Bayern Munich. We saw him begin to do it when he was at his last few seasons with Spurs. He drops off deep, and there's always been this kind of talk around Harry Kane. He sees himself wanting to play this almost quarterback American football quarterback style. And that that drives me crazy. But you're not playing American football, you're not playing football. Exactly. And it's hard to discuss. It can be hard to criticize him because he does score all these goals, but then there's a part of me that's going, you're playing for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. And then and for England, you're playing against Malta or San Marino or whoever in the qualifying, you know. Europe has an easy qualify. If you're a top team in Europe, you've got an easy qualifying campaign in comparison. And so all these goals, it's all great, but when you're in the biggest games, you're a centre forward, man. Do that job first. And like you say, not a touch in the box.
SPEAKER_01Like it's ridiculous. And and then you've got Bellinham who's hit and miss because he's stifled at Harry Kane's near him. Declan Rice, people saying, Oh, you know, this and that. You if you're that midfielder, you don't want to be, oh, he can run with the ball. No, you need to be passing the ball to the right people in the right space. And Declan Rice didn't even get hold of the game. He's the, and with all respect to a Phil Neville, he's at that same level. I don't understand. Arsenal's got great players around him. I could, I could do that job when if I'm fit, I believe, a little bit, just you know, and oh, he's got a great engine, he can run. Yeah, but all players can run.
SPEAKER_02Like, it doesn't make any God to the Olympics then, mate. This is is football. But it's another one, it's hard to criticize because so many people think he's amazing, think he's like a Stephen Gerrard or Roy Keane, and he's not. And do you know what I was thinking of today? I was thinking, do you remember Stefan Effenberg for Bayern Munich?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Yeah, what a player.
SPEAKER_02He's one of my favourite midfielders. He was an incredible player. He dick I don't think I've seen many players, if any, dictate the pace of a game better than Stefan Effenberg. He was amazing, and I remember he schooled Roy Keane in one or two games around '98, '99. I think actually in the 99 game, they played each other before the final firemunically night, and Stefan Effenberg was amazing against Roy Keene.
SPEAKER_01And that's what I'm saying, Luke. I just I like players to have their roles and responsibilities in the big games. And the fact is that you uh you you've got Declan Rice if he's meant to be this uh Arsenal captain or Odegaard and him a captain, but whatever and stuff. But where's the Patrick Vieira moment where you're saying, all right, Touche will send this, but guys, like we're the players on the field here, let us take control. And why are we allowing Argentina to do this if we're all big time players? This is our moment to say, and Pickford was going, get up, Pickford was going, get out, like you know, and poor old guy, like at the back there, he's the one picking the ball out the net. And I just think that's a good one.
SPEAKER_02So, what changes would you have taken?
SPEAKER_01I would have straight away, I would have just gone all out attack on Argentina. All out.
SPEAKER_02Who'd you take off for that?
SPEAKER_01All out. I I would have taken off, I would have just gone, I would have taken off Rice, and I've just leave Elliot Anderson there because he his grit and grind it just showed a little bit more than Rice. Rice trying to be a I don't know, some sort of like machine, but he's it's not no one's interested. That um wasn't getting any play in to Kane. Um, I would have put on Rashford 100% at 70 minutes to change Argentina's uh dynamics because uh we've got to remember Argentina, the two centre backs or one centre back and a fullback, they were on a yellow card to miss the final. And if Tucho would have thought if you bring on these the season that Rashford had at Barcelona, you've got to you've got to respect it. I know he's sometimes he's a bit of a weird character with his antics summed here, but at the end of the day, it's his World Cup semi-final. You tell him, listen, boy, go on and do that 1v1 and absolutely get him, get him another yellow card. Red, you've got 10 men, plus he misses the final, and put on a sacker, Rashford or Ezie, and just say, guys, Harry Kane, stay there. Don't come back here, stay between those two centre backs and just walk with them everywhere. And then uh go to a uh go to a 4-3-3. Just you don't need these two Anderson and Rice just sitting like that. That's just already you're losing before the game.
SPEAKER_02We said in the previous podcast that it would be from an English point of view, I don't think they need both of them there, especially against Argentina.
SPEAKER_01They don't. They don't, they're countering each other out because they're both scrapping around in front of the centre back. John Stones is a ball playing centre back for Man City winning Champions League, five Premier Leagues. Let him bring the ball out. Say Stones dribble out.
SPEAKER_02Is a better passer of the ball than Decton Rice. The IP, I can you imagine being a centre back and having the ball at your feet, and then Declan Rice dropping off five yards in front of your son. Give the ball to me, mate, and then just rolling it out to the fullback. I said, I get the fuck out of the way. I'm playing this into the centre forward. I'm playing this into Bellingham's feet, into Kane's feet, and he'll do that better than Decton Riceville because Declan Rice doesn't play the ball forward. He bounces it back to the centre halfway out to the fullback.
SPEAKER_01That's right. He's a he plays the ball left and right, and everyone thinks that, you know, because he's runs and he's got energy, and it's like, well, what are we talking about? We're talking about the player on the ball, getting the ball into Kane, getting it higher into Bellingham. And I don't, I mean, I, you know, I get passionate because it could have been another game. I'd love to have managed it. And I don't want to say the guy, oh, I would have won that game. I don't like that, I would have, and all that. But with the talent and knowing Argentina can be on the back foot, this was the moment to capitalize. They went, they got, they the energy that Cape Verde played against them, use that, and obviously that energy that they had 1v1s and 2v1. Cape Verde were unbelievable. And England should have seen that. Then, of course, you go on to Egypt, and now you're 1-0 up against the world champions, you know, and then you've got to you've got to maintain that level of like, we are gonna win this, we're gonna be in the final, we are we're better than you. And it just showed lack of balls, lack of character for not just Tootle to blame, but the players didn't even grab that that game and say, no, none of this, you know, Bellingham, just stay up there, just stay. I don't care what Tootle says, just and I know it can be sometimes disrespectful to the manager's orders, but look, they're like as if Bellingham said it, he doesn't know what it's like because we're out there, then then alright, Bellingham. Big statements from a young 23-year-old superstar. You go and take the game, then you say, now listen, boys, like I'm I'm staying higher with Kane.
SPEAKER_02He was terrible. Bellingham was terrible. Terrible game, he was terrible.
SPEAKER_01And uh, you know, Jed Spence Jed Spence.
SPEAKER_02Jed Spence, I think he's come out of the World Cup actually having improved his like level or profile a bit, you know, because I never really I've I wouldn't have been able to point him out uh in a picture, like I wouldn't have known who it was.
SPEAKER_01This morning he got his agent for a move to Real Madrid now. He's like Tottenham, listen, I'm not sure I'm gonna come back.
SPEAKER_02I said, you know, I've just left the World Cup, you know, like he did do well though, but let's let's like there were two teams in this, and I have a bit of a different take to a lot of what I've seen over the last 24 hours or so, 36 hours. Um the take I've seen a lot is England had had Argentina exactly where they wanted them in the first half. So in the first half, neither team I think had a shot on target. I don't think like I don't think England England looked comfortable, and in a normal match you would say this is exactly how England wanted. I think Argentina were just as comfortable. If you've I've watched Argentina more in this tournament than I have in any uh any other team, and this is exactly the pattern of all Argentina games, pretty much, with exception of a few early Greek stage games. This is the pattern, so good, they go goal behind, and then they cut the rival. They're fine, and just saw the faces, they're not bothered. And you say England players didn't have balls, Jesus, Argentina have balls.
SPEAKER_01That's it's they deserve. I want them now on my side.
SPEAKER_02Do you remember Romero's little touch to get around? I think Bellingham and Kane tried to come in and take him out. He had the ball at his feet in the box, steps in with one foot, one touch on the right foot onto the left and just rolls it back out to the fullback. I mean, yeah, and it wasn't just that. I think another element of England that I've seen before in tournaments, especially with Kane and Bellingham and Rice, I think they really struggle for in really intense games for their stamina. And Declan and Jude Bellingham gets a lot of praise for his stamina, but I think in big games he's often struggled. We think back to Euros two years ago as well. I think he always seems to struggle, and that I think probably part of the system because England aren't great at keeping the ball, so they're doing more running, and I think we saw that, and I think part of what that what happened was as the game progressed, but even in the first half, Argentina's midfield, they create angles that we don't see in Europe. And I was thinking we'd be I had been critical of McAllister in this tournament. I don't think he had a particularly good tournament, but I think he had his best game yet against England, and he's playing. I was thinking about this a lot, like Enzo, McAllister. These players play a very different game when they're in Europe, they do the midfielder role where they get the ball. We said it the other day, they open up to the fullback, they switch, but when they're playing together, and someone's saying today they they play better for their team because they're playing in the type of football, which isn't new to them, it's what they've grown up doing, but it's new to us in Europe because we haven't really seen it. They play these angles, the midfielders they come in tight and they can just nip it around like a little flick around the corner or a little one-two in the really congested tight space and they get out. And if you're a midfielder, if you're Kane or Bellingham and you're trying to get close to them and they just keep flicking it around you, it's there's nothing from a fitness point of view, there's nothing more that will kill you than having that coming in, trying to get a player, trying to get there as the ball arrives at him, and then him just flipping that, and then you have to turn it around and go again. It just kills your energy, you know. And I just thought Argentina's style of play, and I thought they were very comfortable, England got the goal, they were never gonna panic. England were dying on their feet, their energies were set, and Argentina. I think I almost think their plan went perfectly according to plan, their game, it did, you know, even with conceding the first goal and Simeoni playing, by the way. Nobody saw that coming, and as bad as a footballer as he is, he did a really good job, you know.
SPEAKER_01He did. I I said when I saw him on there, I said, Oh, look at this, it's staged, isn't it? You know, Beckham's in the in the in the box, Simeoni in the box, and Simeoni's on the field when his son is playing in the World Cup semi-final. It's like, come on, guys, what are we doing here? You know what I mean? But he he as uh Scoloni said, you know, it's gonna be you know, don't worry about your your uh Serie A kind of scoring goals and that sort of stuff. Or now he's in Atletico Madrid, is he?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Atletico.
SPEAKER_01Liga, sorry, and you're gonna have to be ready for scrapping in this game because you know, and he and you saw him near the throw-in line or whatever, he was like there, he was trying to wrestle and rumble, and obviously it was a lot of pride from from his dad. But um, but I I just think Argentina were were fantastic. I think um what I really loved, and obviously everyone always needs to talk about him, but isn't it? I think that when you talk about the best of the all time and all these sort of things, right? If you see the humbleness for his country, Leonel Messi, he didn't say, No, I want to be in the box, I've got, I've got, I've got eight goals, I want to, I want to be in the box. He turned around for his country and said, I'll go out on the right wing. And to do that, and if you'd done that to our buddy over in Portugal, he would absolutely cause a fit. If you said to him, Listen, Chris, we need you to go into centre midfield and and start to move the ball. We want the wheel, he'd be like, No, no, no chance. I want to go get the golden uh ball, I wanted this and that. Messi, he's got what, eight, five assists in this world cup, whatever it's. Messi's out there, little guy which looked funny, crossing, he looked like one of them non-uh Premier League players, that small guy, you don't even know. It's like, where's this guy coming from? He's just he wouldn't even know he was the greatest of all time, maybe. And he's whipping him balls. And then just that the art of it, like the cross, the header, terrible defending from England. But I just thought that just showed such humility that Messi was nowhere to be seen in In Around the Box. And I think that you've got to look at stuff like that. He decoyed England out the way. Tuccio didn't know what to do. They thought double up on him, which was terrible. Um, Messi knew his his legs aren't as much anymore. He's in around the box is where he's is he's creative and dangerous. But yeah, going back to what you said is I think you coach in a World Cup, it's completely different from consistency in a Celia Premier League, La Liga, when you've got 38, 40 games where you know you give you give them time to get their form. Tuchill didn't show enough to say, how can I use Bellingham in in six games, the really best. How often have we seen all these World Cups over our age, over like 25 years, that suddenly these players play for their country, you don't really know their name, then they become a superstar. Because it showed in six games, uh, Carlos Valderrama for Colombia, as soon as they saw he wasn't playing the way he went over and played for um the team in France, I forgot the name, Marseille, no, another one. And um, he's playing for Colombia in that way. Short medium passes, never lost the ball, and it's like, oh my god, like this guy is just making everything else work. And then you get Enzo Fernandez for Chelsea, and of course, it's 105 million, and you'd see, but because he's a Chelsea player for 45 games, you're seeing him do a lot of things, and then it's only about 10 magic moments a season where you're like, Oh wow, what a strike. His trademark is shooting outside the box, he done it for Chelsea, deadly strike he has, and then obviously he's a creative midfielder as well. And you know, they they they uh Scaloni knows how to use the players for them five five, six, seven games if they get to a final, and that's that's the difference. And Tuchan was basically coaching it like he's doing like he's doing in the Premier League, or he's in he's in the Bundesliga, and he got it. I just think there he didn't use the players um for for seven games where you know they've got them individual talents. And I don't know what his problem was with the Rashford, you know what I mean? Like you you still got a Barcelona player there scoring free kicks in El Classico against Real Madrid, top corner, like you've still got a guy that it's like so congratulations Argentina now. It's I I want them to win it, but you know why? Not because of do you know why, it's because I want history to be made and Spain winning it. I know it's it's it's more of a free flow, like oh, Spain will win the World Cup. You kind of see it the way that they won the Euro 2008-2010 World Cup. You can see that pattern a bit, but the fact is that winning a back-to-back World Cup was only done by Brazil in 1958 and 1962. We're talking about Scaloni has never coached in Champions League and that level of two chills, elite manager, all these words elite and all this stuff. Scaloni's like on the verge of winning a second World Cup, and with a few players that he had to leave out that or retired, like Di Maria. You know, imagine they had a Di Maria style player in there, like that would be game over, they would have just walked to the World Cup. Um, so all credit to Scaloni, you know, and Tucill got outdone.
SPEAKER_02It's funny, I think we're we're in a weird uh phase of managers, you know. The final of Spain, De La Fuente is not a club manager, uh Scaloni, not a club manager. I think we think back about Zidane, one of the most successful managers of all time, even though he's only ever managed Real Madrid, and you get the impression he like would you really trust him? Like you wouldn't think he'd have the same success.
SPEAKER_01Exactly, of course.
SPEAKER_02Um so it's a strange, it's a funny thing, and I think I do think it goes back to like international football is not the highest level of football. The the the Champions League later stages, like Man City against PSG or PSG against Arsenal, that's the highest level of football, in my opinion. Just it's insane. The level of coaching, the level of talent on the show, players from all over the world, it's the highest standard of football. It used to be it's not, and I think as a result, we've probably got a more entertaining game. But I think as well, uh what we see with Scaloni having the success he's having, because Argentina aren't in a they're not the best, despite the fact they could win and become technically the best team ever because they won back-to-back World Cups. I I don't think anyone actually thinks they're even the best. I don't think this is the best Argentina team that Messi's played in. I think the one 10 years ago that he kept failing with was better than what they have now.
SPEAKER_01Let's talk about you had you know you had Aguero Tevez and Messi up front. I was frightening, like you had the selection that was there, like unreal.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. And then and then it's the same with Spain. Is this Spain team better than the the Spain team who won the World Cup in 2010? I don't know. I don't like I don't think so. No, we we're in this funny place, and I think what we're seeing is actually the power, the personality of the manager to understand the to understand the country that he managed. And this is why I think it is important to have a manager from that country, and possibly something like I've seen Tuco today saying things like maybe we don't have the players who know how to keep the ball, maybe that's a cultural thing. And let's let's forget the fact that he actually left probably his best ball-playing midfielders like Wharton at home uh for the World Cup. He didn't actually take his best, he could have played Mike Mainu, who's a far better ball-playing midfielder than Declan Rice is. Like, let's ignore those things. But for a manager to suggest that it's a cultural issue with the game, well, then he like it's suggesting that he didn't know that, that this is something he's only discovering. Scaloni would never have had that. Scaloni won't come out at this tournament if they get beat 6-0, he won't come out and go, Well, I just didn't realise that culturally in Argentina we don't have this or we didn't have that or we lack this. Because he understands that he is actually he's grown up in the system. Luis uh de la fuente has grown up in the system, and I think we've seen it with Garrett Southgate, who's been England's most successful manager, um, and maybe someone for I mean, I don't want to give keep going back to England, but I think it is a really great thing for the final that we're seeing this, and I hope there's a knock on effect that other FAs around the world, including my own Irish FA, the FAI of Ireland. I hope we can like as much as I enjoy the manager we can already have. Yeah, the Irish FA said, uh yeah, just a callage to say you've been blacklisted. Please stop emailing us. We don't need any ball boys. It's only good to see that we're not gonna give you an interview. I was like, oh, I didn't expect that call, but thanks. I'll take it. Put that down your CV. But I but it is. I hope I hope we can learn from that. And like is I like the manager that we have, but I would love a manager to come in and assess the situation and understand what is Irish football. Because and I think if we could have that throughout all international teams, I think we'd get a much more varied game, a much more enjoyable game. And that's all we really want from these things, you know. It is about entertainment.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, you every four years you get uh four games in the group, five, six, seven, eight games in total. Knowing your group of players, and I really love that it's gone so modest, like we said, the Spain team in Yesters, uh Fernando Torres, and all of that, the selection was unreal. And everyone gets that generation. England got it as well, you know, Owens Beckham, Ferdinand Scholes, and everything was like, wow, like this is uh dynamite, and it all falls apart because the identity of that group of players, I do like what took Tuchor. He did leave, he had some balls to leave some of them, even though I think Trent you could leave him behind. That one that one was kind of fine. But uh Foden and and Cole Palmer, out of the two, I would say, taking Cole Palmer, and you've got to work with that group of players to know how can I get the best out of them for being how good they were for their clubs. Now, how can I make them so good in in in five games? Obviously, don't say eight because that means you're reaching the final, but in five games, how can I form that Declan Rice is playing his best for what he we want him to do? Cole Palmer is free-flowing like James Rodriguez for Columbia in the 2014 World Cup. And having that identity of like, what is English football? Because the Premier League is an international league, the coach is an international coach, there's not even enough English coaches or UK coaches in the Premier League. Players are just doing mainly, I think, the English problem is that the national team is secondary, and the passion of Argentina singing the World Cup, they they have they have a second switch, which other nations do as well, that they're playing with Argentinian comradery, but they're not playing for Chelsea and and and Man United and this and that. They're completely throwing that all out the way. That's gone. I'm not playing Man United's uh uh Ruben Amorim stuff. I'm gonna try that in this game. He told me to dribble the ball up. No, no. They're like, no, I'm I'm gonna as soon as we don't have the ball, I'm a warrior. Not in the Premier League. You don't have the ball, you're not a warrior because you do something stupid, you're getting a red card, and then suddenly it's like, oh, you know, this so England doesn't have any any new DNA, and it's great that Southgate done this and he got this, but at the end of the day, he still didn't give any any mentality to the team to show, like, you know, guys, like your player for your country, but they're they're such millionaires that it's like they all come together and it's kind of like, I know how good you are, you know, I know how good you are, and it's like they all count together.
SPEAKER_02This is why you have to have the right manager, and the man the right manager, in my opinion, at international level is someone from that country because not every Argentinian would have done what Scaloni's done, but Scaloni, like he wasn't popular choice, people didn't know it, but he he tapped into something and all the players got involved. Messi didn't even want to play, Messi retired. So we're forgetting how old Messi is, but if you can get an England manager, and I and just because Southgate done he done very well doesn't mean he's the right man, but there must be someone in the England setup who can tap in like into the psyche of the players. We're talking about the highest paid manager in the world in international football, is the England manager. Six million a year. So they should be able to find someone who can do more than just get players playing darts and saying, Oh, this is what because that's what the what Southgate did. Tap into something that they all love, that's that makes them proud to be English. And then the same for every country. Tap into something that and gets them all on board, gets the fans on board, then and suddenly this Argentina craziness that we see at World Cup that comes alive then. It comes amplified.
SPEAKER_01That's it, and and and and it creates something new. Like, I mean, I don't I don't mean like when Argentina do the barbecue and and on the grill, I don't mean England where they're all gonna go down the pub and get shit faced, you know. Well maybe, maybe they should. You know, have a punch off. Exactly. Go go in there, and all of you like clear the pub, just the the whole of the squad, and just drink whatever you want. Everyone put the music on, sweet Caroline, everyone put the karaoke, like start singing, and then create that that togetherness. Maybe they do play videos of the past of the England teams. Show the most emotional moment of Gascoigne in 1990, what it meant, because they were very modest, they were working men that were saying we're doing a job here, we don't have, we have Gaza, but we don't have the Maradonas and everyone, and and we were in the semi-final, and obviously the rivalry then was against Germany. So, and you saw that passion that they went out on penalties, you know what I mean, against the Germans, and but they were there. It was like they were one step away, but the passion was raw for England. Gary Linekar, they really were like David Platt, they were fighters, Terry Butcher at the back, blood coming out of his head, and he was there. Like, and I think that the bench, the staff that Argentina have, Graham Soon has touched on this. I don't know um Anthony Barry. Obviously, it's has to you have to be an elite high-level coach or knowledge. Obviously, he came from came out of nowhere. Frank Lampard.
SPEAKER_02Frank Lampard took him. So they were doing they were doing a coaching course together, and he really impressed Frank Lampard. He's got no playing background, Anthony Barry. So he impressed Frank Lampard, got taken on for a few jobs. He ended up working at Ireland for a while, he went to Belgium, and he's been in Chelsea with Tuchel and all that. So he's got a good coach, got a great coaching background.
SPEAKER_01But of course, of course, and I and I believe that, you know, as being a coach myself, of course, things the phone the phone rings and suddenly, you know, you don't say yeah, like Paul Clements is the is the Brazil assistant coach. Who would have thought a P teacher from London at the big at Humble Beginnings has coached at the best clubs in the world, Chelsea, Real Madrid, and who would have thought he's uh Brazil's assistant coach? But what I mean is you need to have a bit of a figure on the few figures on the The bench. You've got Walter Samuel on the bench for Argentina. You've got Pablo Aymar, who was one of my favourite players of all time.
SPEAKER_02And importantly, he was Messi's. Importantly for Argentina, he was Messi's idol.
SPEAKER_01That's right. So there's there's there is a connection you've got to keep. Now I'm not saying just give someone a job and they get paid, put Rio Ferdinand in, and he's there thinking, Oh, I'll get a million a year for this. This is great. Like, I'm with the lads. But you know, if you just invite Stephen Gerard to be on the bench, when you see his face and you're thinking, like, Gerard's like, come on, like you, there's there's something in that that is no tactics.
SPEAKER_02You know, it's not Gerard on the bench, it'd be Stephen Gerard sitting there sulking about fucking shit. Fuck this. I'm going home. And I just yeah, we could sit here talk about England and Argentina all night, uh, but we have a final in a few days. Um Spain are the favorites. Well, we win. Five to four favorites.
SPEAKER_01We didn't touch on first to be fair, England versus France, third place.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we'll come back to that.
SPEAKER_01Not zero viewers, you know what I mean? But the stadium ninety.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'll say FIFA are getting a lot of shit, but uh I can congratulate them on making a wise decision to put it on at 11 pm on Saturday night. I will not be seeing that game.
SPEAKER_01And I won't, there'll be no this is this is the this is the game where all the this will be funny. It'll be all American fans in the in the third place. Uh there'll be no no French fans, no English fans, they'll just be in the pup for you on the beach, Miami, maybe on the Los Angeles beach, and you all the Americans in there, like hey and then they'll be wondering why they don't know any of these players on the pitch.
SPEAKER_02Be like, who is this guy? I don't know his name. Well, they've they've put on all the reserves, the number 23, 4, 25 in the squad, you know. Oh yeah, the final Spain, Argentina. Spain are obviously the favourites, five to four favorites. Argentina nine to four, two to one on a draw. Um, what are you thinking? Who are you backing here?
SPEAKER_01Stats what you just said there. Obviously, we know Spain, they're gonna they they're gonna do what they do. Now, personally, do I want Argentina to win? Yes, so I'm gonna back them. I want history to be made. I think that they know they're on the verge of history, Messi will retire. You know, they've got a modest team that done it as a as a group, and I think the fighting hopefully it could be too dominant for Spain being that nice, petite kind of. And I think if they throw paint and ugliness against them, because they haven't had a reaction. Remember, Luke, when we spoke about it last time, there's no reaction from Spain, they haven't had it, they haven't had a comeback, they haven't had uh emotional rattleness of like, oh my god, like McAllister off the post, then a rebound, then another one, and it's all so. I think um Messi to do some of his magic, Spain will if they could do that. The scary part, Yamin Lamalle, World Cup final, 19-year-old. If he if he if he does what England should have done, 1v1s and stuff like that, oh that guy can can really have fun knowing it's his World Cup final now. And if he's he's he's picturing himself like, wow, I could be the World Cup final.
SPEAKER_02And he could see he was doing some damage against France. He was looking a bit, he's still not 100%, but he was closer to it than he has been. So we you kind of wonder, is he peaking just at the right time?
SPEAKER_01And and who what a peak. Oh, I'm in the World Cup final, and I'm I'm playing the game of my life. And um, I'm I'm gonna back Argentina just to I need to choose one, but I'm I'm gonna go with them. I just love that spirit. I'm I've got that as a coach, that passion, that craziness, and I think that Spain, they're gonna have organized, they know what's coming at them. Um, I think hopefully their their mentality could could fail them Spain. Um so that's I mean, football-wise, we know what Spain, we can obviously know that they're gonna keep the ball well, they're gonna they're gonna keep possession in the low, middle, and high zones and slowly work the ball. Them little short diagonal ones I'd said to you before, in and around the box for Pedro Porro's goal. That's what I meant on the last few podcasts. Short little diagonals in the box. That's what they did with Pedro Porro, and I that's Spain's kind of goal. They haven't really had shooting outside the box. Spain, there hasn't been anything like that. So I think they're just gonna contain them in the box, you know, be as quick as it can catch them out. And I just yeah, I just really would want Argentina to to win it. Um, and so I'm gonna back Argentina. That's that's I know I know exactly what you're gonna say from our first podcast, and now you're in the driver's seat, but you have a bit of a personal situation here, so I want to hear it.
SPEAKER_02No, no, I I'm gonna be quite boring. I I agree. I think I I think Argentina are gonna win this, and I think the reason for it, I think this is the worst game for Spain. I don't think they know what they're coming up against. I don't think they've I don't think anybody knows what they're coming up against when they're playing Argentina, you know. I don't think Argentina know what they're gonna produce. Oh, am I starting? Yeah, it's like it's like it's incredible thing what we're watching for the last two World Cups. I think Argentina have this sense of destiny that I've never seen any like obviously uh because of my uh partner, I speak I'm quite a lot of Argentinians in my life, and all of them to a person will tell you we're gonna win this without any doubt. It's a belief that they have in this, they but they have the faith that they're going to win this, and they had it in the last one, and they're in the final now, and so I think from a tactical point of view, I mean on paper, I mean Spain are not, I don't think Spain are this incredible team either. Um they're very good, and I think the addition, I think Almo is amazing, I think he's a really underrated player for Bar Barcelona as well. I think his touch for uh for Poro the other day for the goal was a was a brilliant example of why he's there. He's a c he's such a clever, classy player, and he he is a big danger man because he moves nicely between the lines. So Argentina are gonna they're gonna uh suffer, but they love suffering, and they're gonna score because they seem to always score goals. They'll they'll have a moment in the game and they'll have pressure, like the same issues, challenges that Spain had going into the France game, which is are where are they gonna get their goal? They're gonna it's gonna be the same with Argentina, where because Spain aren't clinical, they're not they don't score lots of goals. So where are they gonna score their goal? I don't know. So assuming it gets to half time, 60 minutes, nil-nil, who are you backing in that situation? We've because we've seen this game plenty of times before. Who are you backing? You're back in Argentina.
SPEAKER_01That's right. And then and Argentina won't care about this this possession thing. Possession without goals doesn't mean anything, doesn't mean nothing. So Argentina don't give a shit about they can have the ball if they're in the middle zone or they're they they they're this a little, oh, the Spain look comfortable. Oh, who gives a shit about all these comfortable? That doesn't mean who cares? The game by the scruff of the neck, when it really matters, a World Cup final for Argentina means means the country is in like it's it's life or death. It's so that scaloni's crying on the interviews, the head coach. Imagine that was that was an English coach or whatever, it'd be like, Oh, get a hold of you, Roy Keane would annihilate it. Oh, get a hold of Darrell South Dave. What's he bloody doing?
SPEAKER_02Man, Scaloni hasn't stopped crying all tournament.
unknownI know.
SPEAKER_01The comeback against EJ just stood there and went, Yeah, yeah.
unknownOh my god.
SPEAKER_02He was like, I can't look you in the eye, I'll cry. It's like, what is going on with this guy?
SPEAKER_01Surely doesn't cry. And then you've got Lautaro who does the same thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01This is real. Who does a comeback in a 2-1, 2-1 win? Header, five foot eight, terrible, defended by John Stones. Like he knows that his steps were so wrong because that would, if his steps were right, that Lautaro wouldn't have got that header. And Lautaro's showing I come off the bench and I get the winner. That's every child's dream. No one cares if you don't do anything for the rest of your career. That is a that is a dream. To Scaloni says, Lautaro on you go, you know what to do. I don't even have to say messy, right for cross. Ah, this is we're talking stuff that's written in the stars. Now for all the scrutiny they've got, I don't care about all this. Oh, they've rigged the World Cup. Shut up, man. Like it's ridiculous. If you you think that the players had to make comebacks in three games, that suddenly we want to do conspiracies and the refs, the players are still doing it live that you're watching, there's a game. It's not it's not like England stood still and was just like, oh, let's let's let's fix this. So that momentum, I just say, go and win the World Cup because Spain is Spain, and it looks like sometimes they're a training team out on the field, and you're just like, Oh, all right, well, you know what I mean. And even last point there, Luke, even when I looked at the emotion of the Spanish players reaching the final, I didn't see even a bit of a few tears or just the fact that no one knows what's gonna happen in a World Cup final, but you're in a World Cup final for me. I don't I broke down in tears on my knees, being like, We're in the final. And Lamau was just kind of just like walking around thinking, Oh, I'm gonna download that song later and get that remix. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, you know, like and Poro, at least Porro, because he's like, I'm scored, he couldn't stop smiling, and all the players, Spanish players, it probably looked like, all right, calm down. What do you mean, calm down? It's a semi-final. I've scored a goal in the semi-final of the World Cup, and now we're in the final, and that's what I think could be a weak point. Argentina reached the final, no, Argentina beat Cape Verde, and they drop down to their knees and they start breaking down, crying.
SPEAKER_02Like Argentina will celebrate just arriving to the stadium, they'll be so happy. Oh, this is amazing. We arrived and we're all here. This is amazing. Oh, we're gone, we've warmed up. It's amazing. Yeah, this is the greatest warm-up.
SPEAKER_01This is, and that's what you need. And when you when you live every moment of a World Cup, like England did in 1990 and Ireland did in 1994, they I know that, you know, of course, you know, Roy Keane is always oh, the training's not good, this is not that. I I get it, right? You always have to set standards as much as you can. But sometimes let that be and enjoy every moment of getting on the bus, arriving to the hotel, enjoying that meal and saying to the player, this is it, guys, this is it. And Argentina have appreciated everything that's been thrown at them. And I just want them now to just go and go and get it. Yeah, sort of you know, Messi to win a second World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo sitting at home,'s got another year in Saudi, 175 million a year. You know, you haven't got a World Cup, buddy. You haven't got, you know what I mean? It's all about you, like it's all about him crying on the camera. And it's like the Portuguese players all had to live. But look at the difference in Messi. Like, all the players are chipping in with that passion. It's not just like Messi is standing, everyone is breaking down, you know. So, you know, final for me.
SPEAKER_02It's set up to be an amazing game. It's set up to be an amazing game. I can't wait. Where are you gonna watch us?
SPEAKER_01Uh, there's a local bar just on the corner here, it's not bad. But if you know what's funny, Luke, is it's it's it's always empty, as in when the football, like there's people in there, but it's like you don't even have to worry about getting there early to get seats. It's just like I go over there, I'm like, oh, all right, World Cup semi-final here, and you know what I mean. I've got the bar to myself nearly.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, yeah, just go there uh Saturday, 3 p.m. uh Canada time. So uh I thought it was gonna be eight o'clock, but 3 p.m., you know, uh 3 to 5 to see Argentina hopefully make history and and uh where where where are you gonna watch it?
SPEAKER_02I will be in uh a friend's house, Argentinian uh friends' house. So it's early enough that hopefully we'll get the uh Asado gone first. But um I'm not sure I could join.
SPEAKER_01I wish I could join. I don't I don't need these chicken wings, these chicken wings here and stuff like that and fries. Would you like another would you like another beer with them fries? I'm like, oh god, no, I don't, but yes, I do. I'll have another portion of fries.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna have I'll have another bud light, please.
SPEAKER_01I know I'll have a butt light which I'm tasting. I don't even know what it is, but I'll have another one then. And then if I say to him, Oh, can I can I you know can I have a pino colada? Sir, what the hell is that? Do you want a ookshake with alcohol in it? No, man, put the rum in and do Sir, it's five o'clock.
SPEAKER_02I cannot recommend you do this.
SPEAKER_01Sir, I'm gonna have to cut you off.
SPEAKER_02All right, well, on that note, before we get barred from Spotify, um, enjoy the game, Alex. Uh I think we're both we're both back in Argentina. Um and we'll catch up either maybe Tuesday or Wednesday next week after the final, after the hangovers. Um, it's been great.
SPEAKER_01We did it, we got we got all the way to the final, so it's been great. You know, for everyone who's listening out there as well, you know, like the same. Thank you for listening to all of our chit chat all the way through. If we didn't bore you, but here we are, we'll have a catch-up after the final would be great.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I got uh I got one comment from someone saying um we need less Alex and more Luke. So um I agree with them.
SPEAKER_00I agree with them 100%. I think I'm gonna have to start hosting this now. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Great, Alex. Well, enjoy the game and we will chat next week.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, perfect. Cheers, Luke. You too. Have a good one for the game. Thanks. Bye bye.