Mikel Merino Sinks Portugal & Belgium’s 4-1 USA Demolition! 🇪🇸🇧🇪🇺🇸 | World Cup Daily #36

[00:00:00] Six World Cups. Six tournaments rewriting the fabric of football history. Yesterday we witnessed the final act of a legendary era. From his first step on the world stage to his final knockout blow, he gave everything to the beautiful game. We will never see another like him, Cristiano Ronaldo, for the unmatched greatness, the endless drama and a lifetime of memories. Muito obrigado Cristiano.

[00:00:34] Welcome back to yet another episode of FUT IN REVIEW, episode 36. It is day I think 26 but just as everything else this week, I am just lost in time. My name is John and of course we'll be talking about the Spain versus Portugal match and the USA versus Belgium match. Luckily, I don't talk alone today. I am joined by Mr. Blue who does, well, proper rights to his name today, wearing a blue shirt and having a blue microphone in front of me.

[00:01:03] It's not other than Graeme Homer. Graeme, welcome back my friend. Thanks for having me back. It is very good to have you back. How have you been doing? I was a bit tired while these games just going late and delayed but I am just plugging through. We want some good news on that front. A lot of them are going to be reasonable time now. Yes, we start at like 6pm, 5pm your time and I think 9 or 10 afterwards so I'll be asleep before midnight tonight.

[00:01:32] I think my partner will be really happy with that as well. Yeah, it does take its toll by watching 26 days of football in a row. Yeah, it's starting to really hit home these late nights and then try to get up first thing in the morning after little to no sleep. So yeah, I'm grateful for the least amount of games possible going forward and the better time starts. Yeah, definitely. Well, day 36 done. Ronaldo's out, Belgium are through.

[00:02:01] Of course, all three co-hosts are gone as well. The quarter-final starts tomorrow with Morocco versus France in Boston. Then Argentina, Colombia's Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Norway and England will follow. Although Colombia of course has not played yet and Argentina, who knows, might not make it tonight. I'm not going to go there yet, Graham. So we start with Spain versus Portugal. Yeah, why not? Yeah, well, why not? Yeah, we have to do it. So Spain versus Portugal. This was built as Ronaldo versus Jamal.

[00:02:29] 41 years old against 18 years old. Well, the greatest modern era forward. Czech would say against the Tunans, the brightest new town. What actually happened was Keiji at this... Well, it was a contest that never lived up to the promise. Maybe. There's some things in between there. Spain had the better of it throughout, but the Portuguese squad hold on tight. It was a very entertaining first half. It was a very strategic though, cagey second half, I suppose.

[00:02:59] With a late goal from... Jeez, it's been... I have too little sleep here, right? Mourinho, of course. Yeah, sorry. Mourinho scored in the 85th minute, I think. Or 87th minute, something like that. Yeah. Done deal. Great goal. One is enough. An interesting statistic. Spain still has not conceded a single goal yet this tournament. What are your thoughts on this, Max Graham?

[00:03:29] Good from a technical and tactical point of view, if you like that thing. But as an overall spectacle and drama, it's a bit of a damp squids. Quite boring game. If you're looking for end-to-end goals, like some other games. Like... But like I said, from a more tactical and technical standpoint, it was really good. The two teams that were trying to attack, but the other team just as good.

[00:03:59] They cancelled the HR out really well. And it took a moment of real good quality to break the deadlock and let the dying embers. So... I was hoping for better, but... Generally, it was a good game. Yeah. It was... First off, the Costa. What is... How many balls did he save? He did three like proper saves, didn't he? Two of them looked back-to-back as well. He had a few good saves.

[00:04:30] I think he also did the Beina Curler. Just tipped it around the corner, like around the post. I think... It's a shame. The Portuguese manager also quit right afterwards, I think. Yeah, he said before the tournament that he would be leaving. So as soon as the game was done, that was him. But then that's normally the defeat of a national football entire. If you don't win, you're pretty much going home. Finding yourself a new job. Yeah.

[00:04:59] I want to highlight Ronaldo first. I'm going from left to right here, I know. But I respect the man not only for his performances, but I applaud him for all the hard work he does. I think we spoke about it here last night. People were like, yeah, Messi's better. Maybe Messi's better. I don't care that much. But I like the way he puts in the effort every single day. The hard work, the grind, never gives up. And even when things don't go his way, or maybe it's been a little bit too long on this international stage for him.

[00:05:29] Could even say that. You can't say he doesn't work for it. You can't say he doesn't give it them all. And I think we should applaud him for that. The... I went off that match and, oh, this is actually a little bit sad. But then he gave an interview saying that the European championships he won for with Portugal were actually as big as in the Chiefness World Cup. Maybe he shouldn't have said that though. So, Graham, what do you think? It did come across a bit of Sour Grapes.

[00:05:59] But then he's trying to obviously have that more positive slant when people are trying to throw that bit of shade at you. You're never going to win a World Cup now. So I think he's just defending his honour a little bit in that same aspect. But, like I said, I think people were quite looking for that moment. Ah, yes, you're never going to win a World Cup. Messi's better than you. Then rather enjoying and reflecting what we're losing.

[00:06:24] Like you said, it may not be the naturally gifted players, Messi, but from this scrawny teenager that tried one too many step-overs and cried when somebody pushed or touched him to the absolute disciplined machine that he became the day where he could steamroller teams on his own is something that you've got to really look at and say, will we see that again? Somebody that can just literally give so much, looks at everything in the game,

[00:06:52] trying to find that 1% to be that little bit better every year. So it's a shame that he's leaving. Yeah, definitely. I'm going to miss him on the international stage. And to be fair, I'm not seeing much of the Saudi league. It feels like a proper end of the era. Yeah, it just makes me, it sort of makes me sad. But then again, I think we should not only watch what he performed here, but we should watch and look into what he has also performed.

[00:07:21] Like getting a European Championship with Portugal and winning the National League, for example. Those aren't small feats either, right? And the amount of Champions League he won, Ballon d'Or as well. We can name everything there. Plus, I also quite like the fact he wasn't too shy to, for example, to move to Juventus as well. Just pick up their gauntlet. It's a big step going from Real Madrid, right? To another team and then say, let's go to Italy for all places. And performing there as well, right? Yeah, nothing but respect for him.

[00:07:50] And off of Ronaldo though, Jamal. Did you think Jamal delivered yesterday or was he a little bit invisible? I think for me he was a little bit quiet. But then, like I said, I think both teams really neutralized each other quite well. There was obviously moments of a little bit of quality that each team sort of kind of broke out. But, obviously he's 18 years old.

[00:08:16] So, this is what his second major national tournament, his first World Cup, the Heat, everything else. Sometimes I think people expect it a little bit too much from certain people or certain players. So, he is still relatively young and experienced to a degree. So, yeah, he's going to have games where he's not going to be at his absolute best. But then again, he was up against the best left back in the world in Nuno Mendes as well. Who got injured and looks like a poor injury as well. Yeah, so...

[00:08:45] And then, the whole Spain attack never really clicked as well. So, in the moments that he was trying things, his teammates weren't exactly helping him out either. So, it's one of the things where him himself wasn't at his best, but the team itself didn't really lend to him being the best of himself either. But the only matter of the thing is, Spain won. So, does it really matter if he was close and best when the team is the most important thing?

[00:09:14] I 100% agree on you there. It doesn't matter at all. I think Spain did show, though, that the best defense can be a good offense, right? I have to admit, when I saw Portugal leave yesterday, I was a little bit sour because I expected more of them. I think you expected more of them. I went to have a look at the team once again and I was like, they have the powerhouse, the engine of Paris Saint-Germain in their squad.

[00:09:41] And in front of them, they got the Premier League King of Assists in Bruno Fernandes. And instead of having a layout on the left side, they put in Juan Félix. And instead of, I think, like Ronaldo maybe have his time. This is, I think, a tournament where the coach just said, let's see how far Ronaldo brings us one more time. If this Portugal team refreshes now, and you should just play, I think, a layout as well. We saw how much of a difference that made when he came in.

[00:10:12] When the Ronaldo effect wears off, I think this team can actually get some more air in and shine. But like you said, Mendes, best left back, probably two, maybe even the best midfielders. I would say he's probably currently on top, but after that, these two are like there, I think. This is some squad and it just didn't perform great. Yeah. For me, like you're saying, they have the two linchpins in, but PSG is basically with Fetina Neves.

[00:10:42] But I think that they struggled not having options out wide that were of the same quality. Lyle was good, but he's had a bad season and I don't think he's had a great tournament. Nettel wasn't anything great. I'd say, not Sergio, if Francisco Contesal was okay, but not great. Felix, okay, not great.

[00:11:08] Obviously Ronaldo, like you said, Martinez was hoping for that last one act of sheer brilliance from him. Where I think at times they could have brought Gonzalo Ramos on or somebody else to try something different. So I think the Neves and Fetina missed having the likes of a Dembele or a Dewey or a Chris Barras-Gellier out wide to give them that sort of pace. I think Mendes missed that as well, having that sort of link up that he normally has.

[00:11:38] So it could be, like you said, once the whole burden of trying to push Ronaldo to something leaves, you become more of a collective cohesive unit as a team that plays for each other than through someone else. So, but I did think that they could win it. Like I said, I thought just having Fernandes, Fernandes, Fetina, Neves, Nuno Mendes, they've got Diaz.

[00:12:04] I thought they had the quality go far, but they just, I don't think they just, everything was just a little bit flat for me. There was never that attacking killer extent to really go and put a game to bed, get two, three, four goals. It was always get one and coast or just nick that one and see how it goes. Yes, I had the same feeling with Portugal from which I had to Brazil. There's more in that team, but they're a little bit stuck in the past.

[00:12:34] I had the same feeling with the Dutch squad. There's more in this team, but they're stuck in the past. The manager is also very loyal to players. Same with Brazil, same with Portugal, same with Belgium, which we'll talk about in a moment, who kept playing with the Bruyne, who didn't perform for example. We'll talk about that in a moment because the first thing they did this match is get the Bruyne on the bench and let's see how that went out. But yeah, you have to refresh sometimes. And I know it's hard. We've seen it in Germany, by the way, as well.

[00:13:01] Sometimes it's just good to let the talent shine through and take the stage. And therefore you need a manager that allows it to. And it's hard though, because of course, as an international manager, you don't see the players that often. And if someone delivered to you and is faithful to you, why, how hard must it be to drop him based on results stated at the club, right? And you play like four or five matches at most, most of the teams.

[00:13:25] But I think that what differs a great manager over a manager that has performances in the past, in the international level. I think the champs is probably the best guy to look at when it comes to it, because he had that great team in 2018, but it was Pogba, Metuide, Griezmann, Chante, Chiroud. And he phased them all out. People were arguing that Griezmann could have had this one last stand this year.

[00:13:54] And he was like, nope, at least he's the guy. So I think France, I think a lot of people were expecting it to be the team of egos and individuals where I think they've shown to be the best blended and playing through each other than through that one individual. So I think if you're looking for a manager on a team that really shows how this international game has to be played, they are the pick of the bunch at the moment.

[00:14:18] I 100% agree. And the fact they switched from very defensive football, very attacking football in matter of two years within one tournament is an amazing feature as well, which we'll probably discuss on one of those resting breaks because it definitely needs a known topic. Halfway through the show, halfway through the matches we've now seen. That means it's time for hydration break, but we'll keep it short for this hydration break because we know the crowd is always booming whenever they happen.

[00:14:45] And also the referee is like, hey, I can't tell, but it's just part of how this works. Talk about how this works. If you like this show, support us with a five star review on either Spotify, which will just take one second. Just click on the show, click on a five star. That's it. Or drop us a five star review on Apple, which takes 15 seconds or maybe 10 if you really quick, which we also very much appreciate. And if you leave a comment on Spotify, we will definitely get back to you and give you a little shout out.

[00:15:12] If you have a question, we'll make sure we get that answered as well. Hydration break passed. How was a few? Have you rested up? Yeah, I'm good. Ready to go. Yeah, don't do like Pochettino and kick all your water on though. Talking about Pochettino, we had USA versus Belgium. Of course, Belgium was angry. The whole world was angry. And Martina says, this was the easiest pep talk I ever had to give. I just said, hey, it's us against the system.

[00:15:41] We tonight have 7 billion fans behind us. Show them what will work. And Graham, they did. They beat USA 1-4 and Belgium would dominate from the start to finish. And it was not even close. The Keitelar struck in the ninth minute after a USA defensive error. Tillman equalized with another stunning free kick who deflected off Van Aken into the net. But the Keitelar completed his brace on minute 33, just two minutes later.

[00:16:08] Then in a 57-minute freeze came to a freeze. Well outside the box, mishandled the ball and Van Aken scored from deep as Ream, who had an absolutely atrocious match, just to say there, was failed to block it. The USA was finished. Pulisic went off injured and was crying in 59 minutes. And Lukaku sealed it in stoppage time and did a little dance, which at least Pulisic did not appreciate that often.

[00:16:34] Belgium went through 4-1 and that means the loss of the co-host is out. Of course, Graham, the story before kickoff was Balogun. I think we did some topics about yesterday and half the world spoke about it, if not the whole world. He was back. He played. I saw him once. I think the Belgian team, like I said, was their stable team. They beat Senegal, which was a real show of power, like a show of determination.

[00:17:03] But that team just came loose after the Bruyne got soft off and they switched the all-players round. They started with that team now, so without the Bruyne. Suddenly, the Red Devils looked good to me, Graham. Yeah, I think they're still missing something for me personally. Attacking-wise, I think, yeah, they did score four goals. But to be honest, I don't think the United States is a great nation as a footballing team.

[00:17:31] So, I didn't expect the USA to win. I thought Belgium would win quite comfortably. I did expect quite a few goals. I know everybody will say it was only a friendly game, but there was one before this tournament started, which Belgium... What was it? 4-2, 5-2? 5-2, but... 5-2. But Poulesi said that was because of the kid clash. So just, the kids clash too much and that's why they couldn't perform. Just putting it out there. Yeah, I wasn't buying it then and I'm still not buying it now.

[00:18:03] Belgium, but... America... Balogun and Tillman are probably their best two players. I know people will link, say, Poulosic, McKinney, maybe Rayner. But they're guys that have been here and they've never lived up to it, personally. I know, obviously, Poulosic is just at AC Milan, McKinney's at Juventus. They're at big teams, but I just don't think that they've ever hit that level that they were supposed to hit. Their defence is very weak.

[00:18:31] Friedman's a good talent, but he's young and experienced. Tim Ream, he's old, he's slow. I don't know, other than leadership, he doesn't really bring much. Chris Richards has never really been a great centre-back in a two-partnership. He's done well this year at Palace because he's in a three, so he has that protection. I just couldn't see how the United States won this game. And I think that's why a Belgian team that's still not perfect.

[00:19:02] Coutois said after the match, everything that happened before the match did not influence us. We laughed about it. We just thought this would be an easier match than Senegal because we think Senegal is a better team. Either that was an ultimate insult, or they actually felt that way. What do you think? I would argue slightly better. Senegal are a better team. I think they're more of a complete team. Senegal will press you hard.

[00:19:29] They'll push you for the first 60-70 minutes, but then, like we say, they gas out. So that's a challenge where the United States, they try and play nice football, but they just don't have the players to really perform the way they want. So I think he is right. But if you are going into a game of football, I know Rudy Gossier said that it was a great team talk and it was an easy team talk,

[00:19:52] but we were discussing it beforehand and everything in our own chats that I don't think the Belgium really needed the pep talk or the headed motivation. They'd already beaten them. They were a bit, they're easily the better team. And they're proven that they can bounce back from being literally a kick away from being out of the game. So I don't think it was a dig or an insult. I think it was just Kotar being very blunt and very honest.

[00:20:19] Something that really stood out for me was actually a lot of mistakes on the USA side. I always keep forgetting the defender's name, which I'm sorry. It is, I did write it down somewhere. He missed the second cross. The older defender. Come on, help me out of here. I'm Reem. Reem, yes, Reem. He was really poor. Like defending, only watching the ball, not watching the player. Catella just running past him twice. Well, multiple times actually, because they could have scored more in the first half as well.

[00:20:47] I think the goalkeeper, like you said, Fries is a real talent. But he's at New York, am I correct? I think so. American football is not my strongest point. No, I thought he was at, I think he's at New York. But correct me please in the comments if I'm wrong. A mistake like that, that will happen sometime. I mean, I don't think that's a defining moment at all in this tournament. But if you see how much the midfielders delivered the ball back to Belgium, how many missed passes. Serginio Desto, who plays at base, very experienced ex-Barcelona. Absolutely horrific yesterday.

[00:21:17] Couldn't pass a ball into someone's feet if he was three feet away. The pressure, I said that yesterday in the chat, the pressure that has been put on this squad with return of Balogun might actually broke them before the match even started. It felt. There was so much pressure on these lads now that you can, you could only lose. If you win, it's because, hey, the red card got suspended. If you lose, it's like, yeah, but there's so much pressure on you. It didn't even matter at all.

[00:21:47] Instead of helping, I think this actually brought spotlight on the team. And I think the experiences showed that this team wasn't ready for these spotlights. Because they lost on individual mistakes, not necessarily because Belgium was that much stronger. And they were also very much stronger. So combine that, they will end up in the 4-1, right? Yeah, there was a noose around their neck. Like you said, if they won, it was because Balogun and the red card situation.

[00:22:14] If they lose, then it's, well, that's karma. That's your comeuppance. So they were damned if they won. They were damned if they lost. But like you said, too many individual mistakes. But too many mistakes. Reem, I know I'm talking to a lot of American people. They were confused that why he was being picked. I know he's the captain or he was the captain, the vice-captain. Because obviously Pulisic had gone off.

[00:22:40] But people were looking for somebody like Aaron Trusted or Mark McKenzie to play. I think, like I said, his experience more than his ability was the reason why he was picked. And I don't think that was enough, to be honest. Because he struggled every opportunity they had. I generally thought the Belgian centre-back might have had the same sort of issues against Balogun.

[00:23:05] But it just shows the thin difference or the thin line of what can happen in a game of football. Where Tim Ream was the one that ended up like that. Where he just struggled against power, pace, everything. That you can't cope. Well, the difference is also if you have Reem in front of you with an unexperienced goalkeeper. The goalkeeper gets a little bit nervous as well. While the Belgians still have Courtois in goal. And although he didn't have much to do in goal itself.

[00:23:35] If you see how often he just steps in, takes the ball off, builds up again, gives a good pass away. It oozes calmness in his defence. There's no replacing that. And that goal was unlucky because it bounced off, I think, Van Aken said. But else they wouldn't even get his goal in, I think, either. So... Oh, that deflection completely caught Katoirov's guard. That was going completely the other way. He had it covered.

[00:24:03] And then Van Aken's little flick just had them wrong-footed. It's happened to me before. It's time for Daddy Topic and we're running a little bit out of time. So we're going to base things up again. It's time for the baller, the boltler, and of course, the drum of the day. Let's start with the baller. I think it's safe to say, Graeme, that the baller should be Charles Decetelar. He's been, well, one of the quietly outstanding players of this entire tournament. Belgium now are in the quarterfinals to face Spain and Decetelar is actually wide this match.

[00:24:33] Charles Decetelar, the baller of day 36. Do you agree? Yeah, there was not much overall quality in either games from an individual perspective for me. So, yeah, Decetelar would get it. Yeah, I had one stand. I could also said Mourinho because it was a perfect goal, great attack. And just saying Mourinho's netted nine goals in his last 17 appearances. So that's some stat as well.

[00:25:01] But because he got substituted in, I think that's why we didn't pick him. Still, shout out to him. Dan, the baller of the day. Can we safely say, without insulting literally more than half of a crowd, it was the USA yesterday? Yeah. Because there's only two games, there's very little you can pick from. Unfortunately, USA has to be the recipients of this award. But I feel it's a bit, like I said, damned if they did, damned if they didn't. But the pressure put on them.

[00:25:32] A lot of Americans thought they were going to win it quite comfortably. And they just didn't live up to it at all. No. And I think the problem here is, for me, I was thinking about this this morning, I was sitting down. And it's like, actually, they made it to this. They made it to the last 16, right? Or the last 32 in the round of 16. It's a heck of a performance if you come to think about it. But all we're talking about is a red card previously given.

[00:26:00] Yeah, I thought Mexico would be the one that went the furthest. And they've ended up, obviously, joint. Obviously, I'm surprised America got this far. But well done. It was a good achievement. But like you said, everything's going to be overshadowed by something off the pitch rather than on the pitch. Yeah. So I want to give my compliments to the team USA because they did show us some great football at the start.

[00:26:24] This might be a little bit too far off and I don't think it got helped by the circumstances, which we've talked enough about. I think there's potential there though. But again, Pochettino is the man you want to hold on and neither is the defender. You need to get more talent in, get more matches in, play friendly against stronger opponents, I think, and get some experiences in. And maybe Pochettino is actually the man for the job. So I think that could even be a good chance.

[00:26:51] But they've shown the world that soccer is on the rise for them. Let's put it like that. I applaud them for that. It's just unfortunate that this is not where they will be remembered for, unfortunately. Yeah. The drama. Well, there's much drama going on in this World Cup now. But let's resume it that it is that all three co-hosts are now out at the round of 16. So we have Canada, Mexico, USA. Everyone is out. This is a shame, Eric.

[00:27:19] It's always cool when one of the host nations or the host nation gets far. Do you think this will dampen the mood a bit in the US? Yes and no. I think a lot of people with the United States getting a little bit further. Canada, Mexico football is massive. So I don't think it really dampened the mood to overlay too much for them. But for the other two, I think it might kill the joy a little bit because the home nations are now out.

[00:27:47] But I think in general, the love for the sport might just have caught enough people for it to still keep going. Yeah, definitely. And so far, it's been a great tournament except for the drama of yesterday. Until yesterday, this was a very cool tournament. It's a little bit sour, but let's hope we have 10 more matches left, I think, Graham, in total. Just quickly out of the top of my mind, so I might be wrong. We got one last round of 16 tomorrow. Yeah.

[00:28:17] Tonight. And then we have, of course, the quarters. So that's a bit of a... I'm trusting your maths then. Ah, well, I don't know. We've got a couple of matches. We've got a couple of matches left. And we've seen so many matches so far. I'm looking forward to the two matches tonight. What do you think? Argentina tonight? I think they'll just say that again. I was surprised at how bad they were against Cape Verde, to be honest. I think... Or, Egypt they're playing tonight, I was saying.

[00:28:48] Yeah, sorry. I think they'll beat Egypt. I think they should. But I think 3-1. Sort of... I think they'll be at least a two-goal buffer between them. Yeah, I think Egypt is on a half-strength currently even. We've said that before. Salah is injured, but play in. So... But again, if they stop here, if the story ends there for them, they did really well. But I don't think they'll give up without a fight. So that's going to be interesting to see.

[00:29:14] And with Switzerland versus Colombia, I think Colombia is one of the very underrated teams nobody speaks about, but they played some proper football so far. Graham, what do you think? I think this one's probably the better tie to watch. I think in terms of ability and level players, I think they're quite even in a way. It'll be an interesting way of philosophy as well. Switzerland's a bit more of a disciplined team where

[00:29:41] Colombia's are more attacking and trying to play in the right spirit of the game. So I think this could go either way, but I think Colombia just will tip it. Yes, I think I agree with you. Switzerland is actually a really stable team, like you said. So don't underestimate them. But I quite like what I've seen from Colombia so far. So let's go. And it would be good to have a non-European team go through as well. Yeah. Perfect. Great. Thank you so much. And thank you all for listening and watching us.

[00:30:10] And of course, see you tomorrow. Bye bye.