Paraguay Stuns Germany & Morocco's Late Dutch Knockout Drama! 🇩🇪🇳🇱🇲🇦 | World Cup Daily #29

[00:00:00] Two shootouts, one day Germany's first ever penalty shootout lost at a World Cup. The Netherlands earliest ever exit in 11 tournaments and Brazil needed a 96 minute miracle just to survive. Yesterday's World Cup ate its own favourites alive. Ladies and gentlemen welcome again to FUT IN REVIEW, World Cup Daily.

[00:00:26] Episode 29, Day 19 done. The knockouts are here and the knockouts have been brutal. I'm Shaq joined by my good mate Nathan the Scout. How are you doing Nathan? Long time. Very well thanks pal, thanks for having me on. It's been a wee while. I obviously did yesterday with John, but it seems a long time ago since we started doing like the pre-World Cup show. So I'm excited to get into the nitty gritty of it with you. Yeah, Day 29 mate, this is our Day 19 in Episode 29. So we've been doing this for a while now.

[00:00:55] So let's just break down yesterday and we'll just go through the details. Brazil needed a 96 minute winner just to beat Japan. Germany lost a World Cup shootout for the first time ever and Netherlands suffered their earliest ever exit in 11 tournaments. Three games, all of it absolute chaos. Let's get going. Let's get into it. Just before we get into it, let's just discuss game one firstly. Yeah, Brazil to Japan one. Brazil was supposed to cruise into this into this game.

[00:01:24] Instead, Japan punished a Casemiro mistake to take a lead and five time champions looked rattled. Ancelotti made an emotional change at halftime. Paqueta visibly distressed. I think he's got picked up an injury, was replaced by Hendrick. The Brazilian came out and the team got transformed. Casemiro atoned his mistake with the header as we loved. I've seen it numerous times playing for United. And then in the sixth minute of stoppage time, substitute Martinelli broke Japanese hearts with the winner.

[00:01:53] Japan have now led in three straight World Cup knockouts games and lost all three. Break it down, Nathan. What did you think of this game? Yeah, I mean, for those of you that heard the pod with John yesterday, it pretty much went how we called it. We said it was going to be really tight. We said we thought Brazil would just edge it, but you wouldn't be surprised if it went the Japanese way. Japan took the lead with an excellent strike from Sano.

[00:02:20] Albeit, I think he was quite fortunate to be on the pitch. He got a book in. And then not long after that, he had a really rash challenge at the byline of his own box, which was giving us a goal kick, which I've watched about three or four times now. I don't know how that wasn't a foul. And then obviously being on the yellow card, you're walking that tightrope. So he was fortunate. Yeah, I think Casemiro had one cleared off the line before he scored. I don't know about you, Shaq, but we're seeing a different Brazil.

[00:02:48] Like I was surprised that Indrik came on. I thought Igor Tiago might have come on because Brazil don't look like Samba Brazil. They look a bit like Arsenal, Stoke City type. Like there's lots of balls into the box, lots of aerial duels. And, you know, when you've got sort of Marquinhos and Casemiro and Gabriel, then why not? But it's not the typical Brazil that we do see. Big shout out to Suzuki, I think it was.

[00:03:13] He made an absolute worldie of a save from Vinny, who had a little bit of flair, got himself through. And it was an absolutely ridiculous save. So goalkeepers union, a big shout out. But I think I kind of had this as one all and then I'd actually had Japan to win an extra time. So it wasn't a million miles off with a 96th minute winner. But yeah, I think it was quite tactical. I think it was quite good. It was quite interesting to see the different side of Brazil as well. But I mean, lots of people had them as favorites for the World Cup.

[00:03:42] Yes, good teams grind out results. But I've not seen anything from them so far to say that they are head and shoulders above everybody or they're even the top team yet. The tournament's still young and they can still improve and run into form. But there's nothing there that I'm like, I'd be frightened of Brazil right now. The funny thing is with Brazil, I think one of the things that we called out as an X factor was not the actual players on the pitch. It was more the manager, Ancelotti.

[00:04:08] And during the game yesterday, he is just the calmest person under adversity. When all that was happening around with the team and they needed to get a winner or whatever, he was just calm, just calm. Even they got the winner. They cut to him. He was just completely neutral. And I think that resonates. I think a team like Brazil, if you remember when they played in the 2014 World Cup at home, the amount of emotion they showed, which actually got them smashed in that game. I think getting that calm on the sidelines is really helping.

[00:04:38] Between the 50th and the 57th minute, I think the seven, eight minutes of football, they had a lot of attacking play. A lot. Suddenly, they just switched some gears and they got a huge amount. So there is a lot in the tank, I think. But as you said, this is not the vintage Brazil. It's not that Samba Brazil. But there is something. I think there is more than that meets the eye with this Brazil. But I don't know if they're champions as such. But I think Carlo Ancelotti is probably the X factor. And it could take them a long way.

[00:05:05] Interesting fact to know is the fact that this could have been the first time they got out to an Asian team. Depending on what happens on the other side, it could be Norway versus Ivory Coast. And Ivory Coast could move along. So it could be the first time that an African team knocks out Brazil. And that's going to be a huge knock for them. But let's see what happens. But also, Brazil, every single time in the knockouts, has been knocked out by a European team in the past. So if Norway goes through, it's going to be a tough road ahead for Brazil.

[00:05:32] But I do think Ancelotti is the difference at this point in time. But Vinny has been having a decent tournament. And I think they have the likes of Kunia. And I think I must admit, you did pick up Ryan before the tournament started. And he has provided something different with a European racing. He has provided something different, don't you think? Yeah, I think Ryan's class. And especially for being so young. From a Brazilian point of view, it's a shame that Esteveu got injured for Chelsea.

[00:06:02] From a Premier League point of view, I wasn't too fussed about that. Especially when he got injured against United. So they meant they brought on Garnash's and it was fine. But Esteveu is a special player. Ryan's another special player. So they'll be interested to see how they work that in the national team. Because they're two very similar players playing in the same position. Both of them look to be exceptional talents. Who knows how they're going to actually develop. But right now, the signs are that both of them are going to be elite level. And they're just a dream to watch.

[00:06:30] Like when Ryan came on and he was spraying the ball around the way that he can drift past players. Like he's just a threat. And like you say, Vinny's one of these players that I very rarely see him have good games. Like before this tournament, I'd always hear the hype. And, you know, he'd always get a goal in the games that you're not watching. But the games I watched him, I think, what's the hype? Because all he does is moan and throw his hands up and run into players. But he's had a fairly solid World Cup so far. Albeit the Scotland kind of gifted him more of his play than anything else.

[00:06:59] But far from that, he looks to be fairly okay. So it'll be quite interesting to see if he now, you know, steps that up. And I think there's a few players that still need to lift their levels a little bit. Because Japan are a very good side. But some of the players Brazil have are frightening. So I had them tipped to go fairly far in the World Cup. But I think if they come in against, you know, one of the bigger teams, they might struggle a bit more just as it is right now. I think watching Japan play, I think it would have suited them to be behind rather than being ahead.

[00:07:26] If Japan was trailing 1-0 and it came down to the wire, I think Japan would have produced the goods to score two goals. But I think they just couldn't hold on to that lead. And yeah, it's just, I don't think they could, yeah, they just didn't turn it on when they needed to. But fair play to them. I was really hoping for them to go far. But meeting Brazil in the round of 32 is not a matter. You can't blame them. You can't blame them. But adios to Japan. But they will be missed. They will be missed. Their brand of football was really good fun to watch.

[00:07:55] It's a shame to see them out so early, but such is life. We'll quickly move on to the second game, which was Germany and Paraguay. This was supposed to be a routine Germany win. Germany ranked 10th against Paraguay, ranked 41st. Paraguay led the game against the run of play. Germany hit back, dominated, and then they thought they had won it an extra time. Only for VAR to chalk it off. Jonathan Tarr's header. The shootout was Carnage. Havertz missed. Walter Mardy missed.

[00:08:23] And then Tarr, the same guy that had his goal scrapped, missed. And that's it. Germany, who has never lost a World Cup at a shooter at a World Cup, have lost. They're out. I can see you beaming from ear to ear. It was... I'll just talk... My perspective. Watching Paraguay playing against Australia, which was probably the most boring match of the tournament, I didn't predict Paraguay to continue doing the same.

[00:08:54] I feel bad for Germany because they tried. They just weren't good enough. They weren't good enough. But this Paraguay squad... Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm very conflicted about this particular setup because they did the same thing against Stasen. It was a dire game. This cannot... They can't keep doing this. Your thoughts, Nathan? I mean, do you remember Greece in Euro 2004? Yes. Yes. I mean, I think the difference is Greece had sort of more wily sort of players

[00:09:23] and European football at that time wasn't as versatile as some of the teams they'll come up against in the World Cup. Personally, I quite enjoy it when Germany lose, especially when they lose so early. So I can't say that I'm disappointed. It was a pretty turgid game to watch, let's be honest. It wasn't amazing. There was quite a few robust tackles, which was nice. The disallowed goal was highly contentious and the Paraguay keeper made an absolute meal of it. And the fact he went down, got back up, still couldn't say that.

[00:09:54] Germany have the issue that they don't have a number nine. Like Kai Havertz scored, but he's not a number nine. He's one of his players that just needs that kind of free roll to drift. They brought on Volta Mada, who they'd expected six months ago to start at the World Cup and he's had a dip in form. He missed his penalty. But, I mean, Germany as well. There just wasn't really much. Like they were toothless. They were toothless. Sané, I thought, was poor. Wirtz showed some nice touches, but he's very much like he'd been in the Premier League where he has a couple of nice touches,

[00:10:23] but then he goes missing for quite a while. Like Goretzka came on. I actually think Goretzka did really well when he came on. Was it Wirtz's cross that Havit scored off? I think so, yeah. He was wide on the left. Yeah. He does tend to play wide there. He's a good ball carrier, good transition. He's got excellent skill. Like up until this season, he had a finish. He could pick out a pass. Like he was, on paper, he's a completely well-rounded player

[00:10:52] and he could play anywhere sort of, maybe not the number nine, but he can play anywhere in those three positions behind the front man. But I just feel like he summed up like how his year's been. Like I don't think he's been amazing and he shows glimpses where you think, oh, that's right player. But then, yeah, he was quite ineffective for a lot of it. I think Germany are very easy to get at as well. I don't know about you, Shaq, but I don't remember Germany being able to get at so easily. Like there's just nothing really there.

[00:11:22] I think, sorry, go on. I think Neuer actually, considering those who are about them meant to be having, it was at Bauman that was the first choice and then they sort of sacked him off and brought in Neuer. I actually think Neuer did all right. There was a bit of criticism about him for the goal, which Paraguay scored from, where he got, I actually think it was a good punch. He was under a lot of pressure, got a good two-handed punch in it. It cleared the box and went quite a distance and then they just didn't react to the second phase. So I think,

[00:11:51] and he made a couple of very good smart saves, like not incredible saves, but really smart, solid saves. So I don't think they could really criticise that. But I think the middle of the park, you're just so easy to cut through and Kemic playing right back, centre mids, sort of popping up everywhere. And there's a couple of times where I think he had a few shots from 25, 30 yards, which has never been his game. So I just think they were a bit of a mess. I think Pavlovich had a very poor game. He gave the ball away numerous times and Nemecza,

[00:12:19] I think he got subbed off for Goretzka. And just the midfield just didn't click today at all. And for some reason, Germany just felt toothless. And this is with Undav on, and Musiala was on the bench. And they still felt toothless. They swapped it around, brought Musiala in, still felt toothless. And I think it's the same thing with, I can't even blame anyone because they had Havertz on the pitch at one time. They had Walter Mata, they had Undav, they had Musiala, they had Wurtz.

[00:12:49] They had so many players on the pitch that can do something, that could create something. All they could do is one goal. And that just shows how resolute Paraguay were in the defense. And they were, yeah, they just, they didn't want to come out to play. They just wanted to stop Germany from scoring. And it worked. It worked. It did. It did. Like, I quite enjoy that type of, I couldn't watch that every game, but I quite enjoy a team just, you know, throwing their bodies on the line, taking the knocks when they have to take the knocks, sort of snapping other players. I quite enjoy all that side of things.

[00:13:19] like I said, I couldn't watch that every game, but you can't blame them when, like you said, was it 47th in the world or whatever they are. So there's a bit, there's a big thing. And the majority of people, fair play to big boss man, John, who kind of said it was going to be a lot closer than the night. I expected a comfortable Germany one. But then when you look back as well, like we're saying, like through, through my sort of generation, you, we've had Thomas Muller closer, these type of players leading the line for Germany. Now you've got Kai Havertz,

[00:13:48] who has a good CV, but he's not an out and out number nine. And then you got Volta Madder, who was not Bayern Munich president, said that he's a terrible footballer. When they lost into, they were like, yeah, he's an awful footballer. I don't know whether that's because they, they lost out on him to Newcastle, but there was some sort of back and forth there. So I think it speaks volumes when, I mean, how many people could really go through off the top of their heads and name a German 11 or a German, sort of 18, like before we'd know every player,

[00:14:18] it'll be the elite of the elite. Whereas now the, you kind of get in a mixed mismatch and there's some good players and some has-beens and kind of some in-betweens as well. I completely agree. I think they were lucky with someone like Thomas Muller, who could just bang it in from being like, not a traditional striker as such, but just could bang them in from wherever, just because he just had the knack of being in the right place at the right time. And they're missing that sort of player. And they don't really have a finisher as such, even though they have Undab, they have Walter Mata. They're not, well, Undab,

[00:14:46] I think Undab's a probably underrated finisher, but, and he started today as well. I just, just didn't work out. Just didn't work out. They didn't have enough space at all. It's, it's a funny old game. And I think I am, I'm not sad that Germany is gone, but I'm just, the concern I have is France, a team like France will literally unpick this Paraguayan defense in no time, in no time. They probably could hold off for maybe the first 30 minutes or 45 minutes, but France will eventually, once you score one against them, that's it. Paraguay will just have to open up and France is just going to demolish them.

[00:15:15] And that's what I'm concerned about. Yeah, no, you're right. I think it works against a team like Germany that don't score. They're not, I know they scored one, they had one game, I think where they, they hit seven today in, in the group stages. But I think that was against Curaçao who were, yeah, they weren't amazing. No disrespect to them. So I don't think that brand of football works against an elite attacking force. There's only so much you can do. And fair enough.

[00:15:43] I'd probably be confident that they would make England struggle because England seem toothless at the moment, but the likes of the likes of them and even sort of the likes of Spain, the way they move the ball around to create the pockets. I think they would be a lot harder to press to maintain that throughout the full 90 or 120. Exactly. Exactly. Well, it's time for a quick hydration break listeners to shootouts down one more game of pure chaos to come. This is your foot and review hydration break. Let's grab a drink.

[00:16:11] And we still have Netherlands versus Morocco to come up and it does not let up. So trust me on that. So while we have your attention, just want to bring your attention to, if you want to support us, just jump into buymeacoffee.com slash foot and review and just support the show. We're here. And we were doing this or just jump into your podcasting app of preference or on Spotify, send us a comment or just give us a like. That's all it takes. Well, that's the end of the fight. Hydration break. We'll go back to regular programming back in three, two, one, right. The third game,

[00:16:40] the third game is very close to a boss man, John's heart, which is Netherlands versus Morocco. The Netherlands had reached around a 16, all 11 of the previous world cups. Cody Gakbo gave them a lead in emotional circumstances. This is days after his partner's unimaginable loss. It looked tough. It looked, and it looked enough though. Until deep, so until deep in stoppage time, Issa Diop equalized and silenced the Dutch and completely. Penalties decided it.

[00:17:09] Morocco's keeper denied Somerville. Saibari stepped up and finished it. The Netherlands earliest ever world cup exit. And Morocco's fairytale continues. Your thoughts on this game. Yeah, I love it. We all said that we thought Morocco would do well. Before we go too deep, I just want to ask you, Shaq, how terrible was the penalty show out? Like the quality of the penalties. Like, I think, was it Timber that hit one? And it must be up there with the work, one of the worst penalties I've ever seen. Yeah,

[00:17:37] I must say the quality in this particular game, the penalties were really bad. And I think there was some unlucky shots as well. Cause Hakimi took a shot. I was pretty good. Went straight to the bar. And then there was a shot that Van Brogan actually saved, but his leg just tipped it and went back into the net. And there was a small little thing that kept happening. But one of the, one of the picks of this tournament, every time I see, I've seen him play this tournament, Saibari. What a player, what a player that Bayern Munich have just picked. Like I didn't know he was this good.

[00:18:07] I had no idea. He's so good. Such a quality player. We shouted at him, I'm sure early on, one of the ones to watch sort of pods that we did. He's amazing. He's amazing. They've got a bargain with him. Cause I'm sure it's only 30 odd million euros. I think they signed for him, isn't it? I think it's 55 million euros. 50. Oh, is it? Oh, it's more than we thought. Yeah. But still, that is still very good. He's look, he looks like a hundred, hundred million pound striker. Amazing. He's just so calm on the ball. When he walked up to take his penalty,

[00:18:37] I don't think anybody actually thought he was going to mess. He had that air of, I don't know what you could say, confidence, arrogance, a bit of both, but he just looked like, yeah, I'm scoring this. I'm winning this for us. And that, that was a pressure penalty. Cause like the, they were behind obviously the first penalty and then they missed their first and then they kind of led and then couldn't convert. It was just everything happening in a penalty show out. And yeah, you'd seen throughout the game for Bergen was really unlucky with the penalty that came off the post and hit the back of his leg and went in. I thought, you know,

[00:19:05] he couldn't do anything about it. It would be technically an old goal, but you can't do anything about that really. If a Bergen had an absolutely wonderful game, I must say, I thought he was, he was probably the Dutch best player. I think kept them in it at times. So it must be quite intimidating to see a keeper that's done so well for 120 minutes and having to walk up regardless of who you are. Exactly. He had an amazing save on Bergen to keep Nelund's in the game towards, I think it was the end of the game or maybe in the, in the first half of extra time where he just had a point blank shot,

[00:19:36] just saved it out of thin air, out of nothing. He just probably the save of the tournament for me. He had a really good game. So it's, it's a bit, it's a bit, bit of a shame, especially, I think, I mean, even to discuss, I felt emotionally charged, even when Gakpo scored, that the stuff that people go through their personal life and bring it onto the pitch to score for their country. And he, you could see how much it meant to him. And it's, it's a bit of a shame. It's so, it is heartbreaking, but at the end of the day, someone's got to win and someone's got to lose. And that's the sad part of football. And look, on the night,

[00:20:06] the better team went through. Personally, I think the better team went through and all power to Morocco. I can, I can see this team going very, very far under the tournament. Your thoughts? Yeah, I agree. We've, we said along that they're going to be one of the, the dark horses, although I don't know how to rank sixth in the world could be a, it can be a dark horse, but at the same time, nobody really associates them because Africans have never won the, uh, won the world cup. And I think, was it four years ago, Morocco went the furthest than any African teams ever been,

[00:20:34] which I think was the quarterfinals. Correct. Um, but they're well drilled. They've got some very good clutch players. So they're opening game against Brazil. They were the better team against Brazil. Scotland was an nitty gritty one nil. They weren't phenomenal, but they didn't have to be because Scotland are really poor. So, yeah, I just think that they're, they're one of these teams that are, they're just, they've got a bit of, well, they've got a very good balance that defenders can defend. You've got Hakimi that's literally everywhere. You've got Sabari that can, can pop up and score some really neat, nice goals as well. So,

[00:21:04] yeah, I don't think that, I mean, I know John really thought that Holland were going to do well. We said all along that I didn't think the Dutch were going to be much of a muchness. I think attacking wise, they've been pretty poor. Robbie's had a game and a half where he's been good, but you look through the team, it's quite an aging team in terms of like they're relying on Van Dijk, whose best season was four or five years ago. He's been on a downward trajectory. Although Liverpool fans might not agree, but you know, we've called out a long time ago and he's not the player he was. They've got Memphis.

[00:21:34] They've got Veghurst up top. Solid penalty though. Solid penalty. Yeah. Yeah. You've got Clive that's had a couple of good seasons and not quite hit the heights last year. Like De Jong hasn't hit the heights that you promised. Like there's a lot of players that aren't quite there where they should be or where we thought they were, or potentially they'd kind of on the, on the back end of the careers. And we say about Morocco having a good balance, but I don't think Holland have the best balance. Plus they've got the Ronald Koeman factor who,

[00:22:03] him and Roberto Martinez must have the two best agents in world football because they effectively fail pretty much everywhere they go and still end up in huge jobs. So best thing that a Dutch can do is not have Koeman as a manager. And I think, I don't think anybody could really take a punt on those two. So wouldn't be surprised if one of them ends up in the Scotland manager. Completely agree about Koeman because he just doesn't inspire confidence and he's been around. I mean, fabulous player. Let's not, let's not get it around. Fabulous player, but he's just,

[00:22:31] he just is such an uninspiring. I joked, it made sense. Look, it did make sense for Van Der Wendt to start as a left wing back to, to counteract Hakimi. It makes complete sense on paper. But just think about it. Are we actually having Van Der Wendt as left wing back? What are we doing here? It just, yeah, it's, I saw that. Yeah. Sorry. He doesn't add an awful lot in the final. I know he had a decent shot that was, I think it was tipped over, but he's not, not a fullback by trade. He's, he's a nullifier. Exactly.

[00:23:00] And then you've got Aki as well. Who's not, he's, he's barely even played this season, let alone had a good season. So it's, yeah, it just doesn't make an awful lot of sense when you're, when you're changing your style around to nullify one threat, who is a very good player, but he's a fullback. Like, it's not like you're talking about having a CDM man, Mark Messi or Ronaldo or someone like that. You're having, having effectively a fullback, although I know he plays really advanced, but there's other ways to stop them. If you've got your team set up,

[00:23:30] right, you'll have a few banks. Whereas I can understand with these more attacking players, where you've maybe they're on the last line the entire time, but these ones running from deep, you've got to be able to, to, to nullify that. And, you know, these referees get a lot go. I'd be sitting and testing the referees and putting a few dodgy tackles in to be fair, if it was my team. Yeah. Fair enough. Fair enough. We'll quickly move on to our regular segment, which is the baller, bottler, and the drama of the day. So for the baller,

[00:23:59] I think it had to go to Orlando girl from Paraguay, the goalkeeper, Germany peppered his goal for one 20 minutes and guilt kept finding the answers. Then in the shootout, the world was watching and he saved guy. Have it's opening penalty. And then he also saved what Nick Walter Mardis saves the two saves that actually, and also he, the, during the, during the other, the normal game as well, he saved quite a few chances. And I think he did go down softly on Jonathan Tarr's goal. In my opinion, should have stood, but Hey, for today, the baller,

[00:24:28] even though I've, I've given a Paraguay a lot of stick, he's kept them in the game. He's kept them to, to the round of 16. So for today, Orlando Gill, well done, my friend, right. The bottler. We've discussed this in bits and bobs, but I think the bottler of today has to be Germany. This is what, what are we doing here? There's Nagelsmann has been an enigma and I've never understood what Nagelsmann brings. And I look, I, I'm not going to claim to know too much about Nagelsmann,

[00:24:55] but this was a team that was just completely haphazard. They couldn't find, they had to bring Undav on to score numerous goals. And Undav's, to be fair, some of his finishes have been incredible this, this tournament, but as a whole, the German team, we've discussed it in bits, but where, where do they go from here? To a new manager, to a new manager, and to maybe some more impetus on the, on the youth and developing again, because they've got a few good players. We've got the Missiella and Verts and such like,

[00:25:24] but there's also a lack of pure quality coming through in terms of, at the top end of the pitch, even kind of more central back, central defenders as well. So yeah, complete bottlers, things that you, you can just do hashtag things Nathan loves to see. You must, you must be loving this round because after winning the world cup in 2018, they got out in the group stages, 2022 group stages, 2026, they got it in the first round.

[00:25:51] So literally they haven't passed the 32 best teams in the world for the past 10 years now, 12 years now. So this is, I don't know. I always like to see these teams do well just to get to the final stages. So we have a really good fight, like a big blockbuster between France and Germany, but this German team will get outrun by France. And I think it would have been nice to see Brazil donk this Germany 7-1, for example, it would have been fun. Yes, I would do. I would do that for that on repeat with popcorn. Yeah. Well, I do. I,

[00:26:19] there was some murmurs and rumors about Jürgen Klopp as well. I think on the television crew, not, not in this game, but the final group stage game where he spoke about, I think there was some rumors of Jürgen Klopp taking over the German national team. So that could come into fruition as well. And I think Nagelsmann, definitely his days are numbered because this is a really, really poor performance to be fair. Yeah. Yeah. I'd be shocked if Klopp wasn't the next manager. Yeah. Yeah. Could be, should be fun. Well, let's talk about the drama.

[00:26:49] Drama is the three brilliant games we had on show today. We had drama in every single game, the 95th minute winner in the Brazil versus Japan game. We had the drama for the penalty shootout is in both the German game, as well as the Netherlands versus Morocco game. What a day of football. Hey, Nathan. Yeah. We tried to try to pick them apart. And when we were looking for the drama, really, well, penalty shootouts are drama, complete drama. So you've got to them. And still like,

[00:27:17] you can't be an open play 95th minute, 96th minute winner as well. So nothing between them, just huge, huge results for every team involved. Two big dogs going out. And regardless of form, Dutch and the Germans are still powerhouses in world football, whether they're, they're at the peak of the powers now, clearly not the drama for the sort of lesser nation of Paraguay, making that upset. It's just, yeah, this is what the world cup's about.

[00:27:45] And hopefully tonight it won't be England at the wrong end of one of these dramatic results, but at the same time, it wouldn't be, it wouldn't be surprising with how bad they've been. But yeah, this is why we all love the world cup really, unless you're John, who's probably hating the world cup now. And he's, he's never going to drink Coca-Cola or play FIFA again. Well, let's quickly talk about today's games that are coming up. It's Ivory Coast. This is Norway. Any quick, let's just go quick predictions on who do you think is going to win? Ivory Coast, Norway, tough game. That one's tough. It could go either way.

[00:28:15] I'm going to say Ivory Coast just because I prefer them because of Ahmad. Generally, I think that Norway will do it, but I'm going to pretend that I think Ivory Coast will. I think I'm on Ivory Coast as well for this one, just because I think Dia Monday has just been my player of the tournament so far. I've just really enjoyed watching him play. He just is electric on left wing usually, but he's just electric on both wings. He can just do everything. So let's see. I think Haaland has to show up for this game for them to progress. So let's see. If we both say Ivory Coast, let's see what happens tomorrow. France, Sweden,

[00:28:44] there's only one winner in my eyes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you're thinking it's going to be the referee, aren't you? No, the French have won that. Sweden haven't let off at all. I think, I think they've been, it was in the Netherlands. I know they say that it wasn't a 5-1 game, but they, they still got beat 5-1 by a fairly poor Dutch side. So I can only see one winner in this, which means that it's probably going to be a draw and it's going to be a terrible game, but you've got to go France on this. Yeah.

[00:29:14] You've got to go France. And the final one is a belter, Mexico versus Ecuador. This is going to be a complete belter of a game. Any thoughts on who you think is going to win this one? I think my money, I know where my money is, but what are your, what are your thoughts? I would say Mexico. I think, I think we've got to say Mexico. Cause it's being played at Azteca. So yeah, they've not lost in however long. So exactly. Exactly. I think it's going to be Mexico. And if it plays out really well, it could be Mexico versus England in the next round. You're looking forward to that.

[00:29:44] That would be terrifying. I think if you play them on paper, you have to fancy England there, but just with how everything works out, then I think that it would be a Mexico, probably a draw and a Mexico penalty types win, but who knows? We can panic about that. I mean, England have to get past DR Congo first and Mexico still have to, have to win at their own stage, which is probably quite likely, but at the same time, it's not a, not a given in these tournaments. Correct. I can't wait to do that show with you.

[00:30:12] The England could be the post-mortem or could be the, the jubilation. So we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll go keep that aside. Right. Day 19 is done. Two giants are gone. Brazil survived by the skin of their teeth. The knockouts are exactly as brutal as we hope for. However, we'll come back tomorrow to talk about Ivory Coast, France, Mexico, all these teams, all in action tomorrow. We'll see that. See you then. Goodbye, everyone.