dramatic fashion in the end, but they totally deserve to get
passed around. How are you feeling mate? I know you've
been high on this us team since day one going to talk a lot
about them. Look ahead to the
last 16 matchups, but that was incredible to see that young
team show that grip and get passed around.
Yeah, I mean just relief going to the World Cup. Again,
I count on them going the World Cup it, you should qualify out
of concacaf, every All time
I don't count on them to get out of the group stage, but
I looked at this and thought it was as favorable draw as they
were going to get.
So I honestly, I thought it would be a little easier
and then I thought they would have had a kind of sealed.
I thought they would have beat Wales and, and lost to England,
and then just needed a draw here. So to see them needing
a win. I was a little nervous, so, just a lot of relief.
Yeah, that is the big emotion. I think Among Us fans even at
the end there, where they hung on off the pool of six early
goal, got them in the position. That needed to be in.
I just did it. They got over the line. What?
No one really cares, right? You. Look at the results at
the end of it. They finished second in the group ironing when they
now face the Netherlands, which were going to preview and
talked a lot about on today's show, but just incredible.
I think the see this young team we've all
watched very closely over the last few years have been under
the microscope. They've been chucked out there in the deep
end and it was great to see them. And the group stage
really, just flourish and be the best version of themself.
Because I don't think we've seen
these kind of consistency levels from this.
Us team and quite frankly, a lot of them haven't been fully
fit like they have been or close to full fitness for all
together at the same time over the last few years. So
it's always come together at the perfect time for me,
but we talked a lot about that. Will preview
a big day. 11 coming up will again, react to the group,
a and Group, B finale, which was quite the finale indeed. So,
let's get on to our first big topic today. Nick Mandola,
analysis on the USA. After that huge win against the ran.
Thanks to Christian politics goal, which saw him be the hero
of the hour. Great defensive display. Once again from
the US.
Big question is have the u.s. overachieved to reach the last
60 and how would we rate their group stage performance? But
for me, they've exceeded expectations, but I know you
feel a little bit differently about this us team.
Yeah,
I think they've hit their expectations. Again,
I think it's a group. They should have emerged from. It's
not because I think they were phenomenal, though. I thought
there at least one half of each match, if not the whole game
when it when it comes to England.
They were exceptional
and they've grown into this tournament. I think, when in
concacaf, I kind of bristled. When I would hear Greg
Burkhalter talk about World Cup qualifying and how this is
a young team. I'd be like, yeah, but you're the u.s.
like, you should you should make excuses when you're not
first in the group, let alone this, but I look at them. And
I just say, you know what,
they get better every game and this wasn't a very difficult
group, but it was a World Cup. It was a desperate team and you
needed to win the last.
Game, the defense
granted they've gotten away with some things but as mostly
been Splendid and they now had a situation where they started
cam card or Vickers next to Tim, ream brought in Walker
Zimmerman and a position that we thought was a real worried
because Burkhalter wasn't using John Brooks
their most established centre-back. We thought was
a real worry and it, and that round, they allowed one goal
and it's been a strength. So the penalty kick as well. Was
it even from this, right? Yeah. Yeah. It's,
you've given him a beatnik explain that. I mean, some
people. People would say that's a little low, but you've had
a lot of faith in this young thing.
Yeah, I have again, I look at them and with this Talent
again, a lot of that becomes down to
honestly might come down to the coach.
I thought that game was screaming out for Giovanni Reno
from about the 15th minute. And if not him, Brendan Aronson,
we'll never know. Because it's look what happened was
Christian pulls that got hurt and we learned that they go
about as far as he does in the attack
to the extent where if he doesn't play against
the Netherlands, I'll be thinking Unless Tim way, it catches
a break away or the Netherlands, make a mistake.
Let's hope for penalty kicks.
So,
yeah, they still need answers in the final. Third and waya
has gone. A long way to showing us. He might be part of
the solution. Absolutely. What are you? What are you? Great? Mm,
yeah. Well, since I've gone ahead and given him a name -
because they've really
exceeded my expectations. I
did not think the way they shaped up before this world
car, or just, I thought they'd struggle against Wales, and
I didn't think they'd get anything against England, so
they've exceeded My expectations, pretty much every
step
of the way so far. They're coming the way they're playing,
not just the results. Not just the fact that like Greg will
hurt said after the game, we're on beating going into
the knockout rounds.
It's been the way they've played as well. Unlucky not to
be England. Unlucky, not to be Wells, and then they beat you
ran. And yes, it was
dicey late on, but they had some really good chances in
the first half in particular. And in the way the game panned out,
they were always going to be on the back foot late on as a ran
through everything at them, to get the goalie needed. So
Offensively? We talked about it, Tim ream the American
dream. He's been excellent, calm everything down and in
Midfield McKenney Adams, Musa Aronson. When he's been coming
off the bench, perfect bench player
in these situations of the tournament. They've been great
only question mark like you as up top.
Can they get some kind of
something going up there? But Sergeant did okay movement wise
in the first half, why? It was excellent coming off the right
and Destin Robinson. The full-backs revelations as well.
I know that's been a huge huge area.
We focused on a lot and they've
out why? The u.s. is really crushed teams and just tend
them back and that's been huge this tournament. So,
I think now the u.s. is there, obviously playing with house
money and as we look ahead to the last 16 game against
the Netherlands, I mean, they really
they've exceeded expectations and no one really expected.
I didn't expect as much as you did the expect from them. So
I'm going to give him an A minus and like you said that
only way that it could have been a higher grade as
if they would have figured things up out up top. And now with
Sick his injury, maybe
we'll see who comes in up there. So
which players were the stars that we mentioned
a lot there.
Who do we think really stood out in this group stage and
made the difference to that? Get them into the last 16?
Well, a lot of players saved their best performances in
a u.s. shirt for the World Cup and I thank them for that.
So, Juno desk the last two games? I think of
besides, he's has a couple
highlight reel offensive plays for the us, but I thought his
best days were these. These last two games. And I wouldn't
be surprised if he's really got the attention
of teams in England and around the world.
But I do want to point out because for as much as we've
talked about Tyler Adams and Christian polasek, over this
whole qualifying cycle, a player who's really coming into
his own
is Eunice Musa.
This this was just a sensational game for him.
I pulled up some of the stats from our friends at opton
fought mob, 32
accurate forward Zone passes in that game
11 recoveries. And he only missed on five passes. And when
you're in that part of the pitch in a game, we knew they
wanted to have possession,
he just didn't let up and the way he turns with the ball
he asks teams to either follow him or run with him.
And both of those things are fine
for a team that wants to get the ball in there, Playmakers
hands. Yeah. It was brilliant to see these young Stars step
up and like you said, when it all came down to it, they put
in their best displays individually. And as a team,
when it mattered most
on the flip side,
Who needs to improve. We talked about the strikers there, Haji,
right? Just Sergeant's been played up there. Anybody that
you want to see more from Western. McKinney was
excellently and England, but he's
struggling a bit
fitness-wise, right? And the tempo, maybe of
this game after the English game, caught up with them
in the Iran game. But
if they can wrap up and caught them all, but he could be
a problem for the Dutch team, and then The Knockout rounds.
Yeah, listen, I'm right with you. I think he needs to be
one. Doesn't need to be. I think he has to get sharper.
And we
No, he's kind of is a guy who likes to shoot. He's a little
bit of a, even more wildcard, Reuben Eva's that he wants to
shoot from distance, but he likes to get to the grimy
places to and
he'll probably look. If you play those three games over
again, maybe he does get a goal. He could have scored at
least once, if not twice against England. But the guy
I'm looking at and I don't know if you're going to agree with
us and
it's a difficult position to rate
as I still do not want to see a little bit more out of Matt
Turner exactly what was going to say exactly what I was gonna
say.
Yeah. If he's our number one and I he is now and he's earned
it and if he has gotten better again, remember this is someone
who is
has dedicated himself to soccer a little later in his career.
At the college age, he does make the Highlight Reel saves
often and he's gotten better in possession. Credit to that but
a couple of drops. He gets to the right spaces and then it's
like he doesn't necessarily trust
his body so I want to see a little bit more
control of his faculties. Yeah. Yeah, true. That's a good way
to put it. I think Against the ran, right? That late chance
for to Remy when he basically went to dive rather than
finishing if you would have gone
for the finish, I think he probably would have scored not
the USL. So this is a different show. Yeah, this is. Yes,
absolutely.
But Matt Turner, yeah, hesitated to come out on that.
It was a couple of chances that called us had near and he
didn't quite, I'd say maybe the cliche but he's not really
commanding. His area is not one of these Keepers, he's huge.
And you think you'll be coming
out just burying people in the six-yard Box punching balls
away, but he
sort of seeing be a bit more. Commanding, but it's there for
sure and he's getting better with his feet. I think we've
seen that in this world cup as well. So
I guess the big question is, how good can this USA team
be not to get too far ahead of ourselves here but
they're in the last 16 now and this has been a crazy world cup
of upset so far. So,
can we dream about a really Deep Run for this us team?
What? Why not? Yeah, I would want to know who lies ahead of
them after after the Netherlands. I think they can
beat the Dutch.
I don't think this is a world-class Dutch team. I think
Maybe the odds
6040, favor them. But that a lot of these Dutch players are
young to in their
learning their way into a World Cup. It'll be their first
knockout. And more importantly, it'll be their first knockout
round as the favorite, they are going to have all of
the expectation. USA is going to come in there as the young team
that,
you know,
people didn't even know if they'd get there is the way
I would put it. I don't want to say people didn't expect
anything out of them but they certainly weren't predicting,
certainly. Will be England in the u.s. So
I was
my best case scenario before the tournament, if they caught
breaks was to
reach the quarter-finals,
I will give them a shot at going, one more round because
they've done it before in 2002. They came
within, maybe a whistled handball or better, Landon
Donovan finishing, and he was great in that game. Sorry,
landed
of going to a semifinal and that was against Germany. So it
can happen, it can and it looking at the The way,
the bracket now shapes up for them if they get past the Dutch then
looks like, potentially, they could play Argentina
in the quarterfinals and they have not been vintage Argentina
messes up to bail them out and again they haven't even got
there yet either. So the way it shapes up, sometimes it's weird
and wonderful and like we said,
the u.s. is hit perfect form and had
pretty much all the key players fit at the same time for
the first time
in pretty much the entire Greg bell-holter error. So that red
except yeah joke and
to finish with him, Grandpa
Aha. Yeah. How did he get on? Because much-maligned lot of
criticism from u.s. fans, but
we've seen them, play the Greg bell-holter way and it's got
them out of the group in the world cup. Is that because of
him, the players are mixture or the players kind of do it
anyway.
It is, it was a mixture. I put most of it on the players just
because it almost always is on the players, a second half
against Wales. I didn't like his approach, I thought he
corrected it against England.
You know what you, and I disagreed in the wrong game,
I thought he should have held on a little bit longer trying to
get that second. And the only thing I really
wish you wouldn't have Rayna.
I wish you wouldn't have
would have played Rayna, but the number one thing I struggle
with Joe is this
or death struggle with, I want to compliment them for with
everything that was going on. I mean they were the headline
story on CNN for nonsense or non soccer Reasons. I'm so
we're not just talking like,
NBC News. I'm talking to the just political talk
and it didn't look like it, affected them at all, and they
had the right mentality for that, and he deserves credit as
the leader for that
definitely. He deserves a lot of Credit USA of overachieved
in my estimation so well done. So Greg Bohol so well done to
the u.s. players
and head over to pro soccer. Talk at NBC sports.com. In
the coming days we'll have all the news preview. How to watch
information team news predicted lineups, pull a sick, injury
updates,
whatever you need. We'll have all angles covered at PST
because as could be a massive game against the Netherlands,
Nick Mandola. And we're just delighted. I think, exhale is
one of the word I'm going to use to all us fans at their
relief. Is the key word there in the last 16 and deservedly.
So