Australia Advances: World Cup Round of 32 Secured with Brisbane Football Review

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Foreign.

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Hello and welcome back to the Aussie football passport.

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And we have some good news. Australia have qualified

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for the round of 32 at the World Cup. It is a wonderful

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Friday evening as we record this and I've got Adam and Scott from

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the Brisbane Football Review. How are you, Scott? Scott? I'm great, Alex, how are you?

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Yeah, very good, very good, thank you. And no doubt it's the same for you,

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Adam. Yeah, very good. Relieved that Australia

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through to the knockout rounds. So yeah.

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So first, the first part of the mission has been accomplished. Yes,

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indeed. Very, very good news to bring you today. While I've

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got Adam, can you plug your wonderful podcast to Brisbane Football Review?

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Yep. You can find us on Facebook at the Raw Review or Brisbane

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Football Review, on Twitter at bnefootball.

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You can find us Instagram at Threads, Brisbane Football Review

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or lowercase. Or you can drop us an email bristol football reviewmail.com

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and you can find us on podcast platforms such

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as Spotify and Apple podcasts and wherever all a good podcast can be found.

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Brilliant. Thank you very much for that, Adam. Appreciate that.

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Let's get into the football A nil all draw with

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Paraguay is what secured our pathway to the round of 32.

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And it wasn't a very memorable game,

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let's say, but it was a professional result in terms

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of getting the job done with a compact

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defense and against a sturdy Paraguay side. I think both

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sides probably fair to say came out and played for the draw. Do you

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think, Scott? Yeah, I, I can't imagine the neutrals watching this game

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would have had too much enjoyment because it wasn't the most free flowing

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of games as you point out, but with a, with a vested interest in it.

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It was certainly a bit of a nervy 90 minutes with the, with the very

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high stakes on the line. And as you said, I think both sides were very

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risk averse here. You look at the two lineups, both sides playing with three

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central defenders. So there were a lot of defensive players out there on the field

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which, which did show you the intent of both sides here that it was going

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to be they will try and prod each other and maybe try and create an

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opening or two. And I think Australia were better at that than, than Paraguay were.

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But I think as you said, both sides were pretty content to take the point

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in this game and that's very much the way it's set out in the game

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and the way the game panned out as well. Yeah, definitely. And I

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mean look, Paraguay also had their star man, if you

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like, in Miguel Almiron on the sideline with that suspension from

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the game against Turkey pre in in the previous group game. So no doubt

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that probably extra layer of that defensive resilience

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shall we say or park the bus to to their game

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plan. And I guess to that point Adam, you know we.

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We made six changes as well. So Popper rang them through

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and particularly the news that Jacob Italiano

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got injured meant that the right wing back slot freed up. Were you surprised

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that he went with Jordan Boss or I guess as is Bage

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coming in and Jordan Boss sliding over to to the right hand side?

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No, I'm not surprised by that. I think. I think Jordy Boss has sort of

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proven he can probably play effectively on both sides

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of in sort of in those fullback roles. And I think as

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it's made I think is for more custom solely as a left back.

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But yeah maybe a little bit surprised maybe he

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might have gone in Millis Digonek but I think as well that just to just

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to try and sort of really lock it down and and sor not retake

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a job. I think with both sides I think the from the outset it was

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a case of at very worse. You know do not lose. I think

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at the end of the day and I don't think there's much ambition or risk

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taken know full well that if. If it does remain a draw that

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that both teams will more than likely go through socceroos

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guaranteed to go through this point and Paraguaguay probably

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with four points as it is sort of panning out right now also probably enough

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to finish the best eight third place finishes. It was

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a bit of a shock though. Alex wasn't. I don't think too many people thought

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that he would move Jordy Boss from the left hand side to the right.

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But from an attacking point of view it certainly made an impact because his ability

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to get foot and cut in onto his left foot was probably one of Australia's

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better attacking outlets in the game and also gave you that experience with Aziz badge

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on that other side. And I think when you look at the alternatives of players

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like a Kai Tru and a Jason Guerrier Miller Stegger neck I would think

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Tony Poppins might have been a little bit worried about them in those wide areas.

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We saw Kai Truin in the game against Mexico in particular struggle

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a little bit in that right wing back role. So it was probably a case

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of put a player out there who's familiar in that level of football

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as his beige and then move Jordy Boss to that other side and

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there Eight days off now. I wonder if that might be something they persist with

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because Jordy Boss was really impressive in that right wing back role.

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Italiano has been good, but Boss looked a real threat and his combination

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with Volpata was interesting to say the least. So I wonder if they

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stick with that. Alex. Yeah, Scott, you must have read my mind because I

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was just about to make the point that I thought the move of Jordan Boss

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to the right wing back role really unlocked him. You know, for me personally,

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we know how talented this young man is, absolute weapon on

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the left. But he looked, I don't know if subdued

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is the right word, but he was maybe pinned back particularly in the, in the

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game against us by their winger. I think Sergino Dest was on his side from

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memory and he really sort of pinned him back with his pace. So fair enough.

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Even in the first game against Turkey though, he sort of was pinned

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back maybe by their attacking threats, but shifting him over to the right, which is

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where a lot of our attack went in the first two games as well to

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be honest, really seemed to unlock him. And that combination with Volpar,

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wow, that's, that's looking pretty

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good. And yeah, look, I, I wouldn't be surprised if, if papa sticks with

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it. I, I guess a lot of it will depend on the injury to Jacob

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Italiano. It's an abductor injury, I believe so no timeline on that

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has been given, but given it's an adductor, you wouldn't imagine that eight

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days or I guess it'll be a few more that,

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that, that will be enough time for him to recover. So we'll

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have to wait and see the, the other changes, I guess.

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Jackson Irvine in midfield, VolPar started so

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two very good ones, but a one close to your heart. Adam Lucas,

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Harrington playing at center back, what did you make of his performance?

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Look, there's a clean sheet so you can't really complain about that.

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But yeah, Luke's Harrington's a couple of first comes I should say first the youngest

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socceroo to start at a World

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cup finals match. So congratulations to him. Another milestone

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record for him but look, he didn't look out

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place at all. And again that solid three with

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with Saharusuta and Alessandro

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Chichati. I think it looked very good and again we did say

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and it was on show for, for a lot that Harrington's sort of range

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of passing as well perhaps is probably a bit superior to

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a Jason Guerrier or a Camber. Just like I said, both those players

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have different had different skills but certainly a game where you're trying to.

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That the, the, the outcome and obviously not and sort of at least

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so. So lock it down a bit. I think having that passing sort of,

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you know, depth, length and depth I think is probably what gave

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him the nod. So glad to see him get a start. I think obviously that

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will from a club land point of view that just probably will now increase his

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value somewhat as well now that he is a World cup starting

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player. So. But all in all, again simply simple fact,

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it was a clean sheet and that's what defenders play for. Exactly. Right.

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Yeah, he, he looks so composed. He looked like, you know,

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it was his second or third World cup the way

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he played, to be honest. So I was really impressed with him.

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And we've, you know, we've seen him as well. Didn't they in

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the early. Yeah. All that longer the balls direct were towards his side of the

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field so they clearly felt he was the weak point in the Australian backline.

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And as he's shown time and time again, he certainly is. And I won't recap

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what Adam said, but I will say there weren't too many American cheers on our

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Thursday night in the United States. But the few that might have been there probably

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came from the Denver area because they would add another zero

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to the transfer fair, I think. Yeah, definitely he was.

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He definitely. Especially now they get 100% of the transfer

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fee. So some nice magic

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beans coming the way of our Brisbane. But that's, that's a story for a different

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show. Yeah, just quickly, of course, Brisbane Raw sold

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their sell on rights to Colorado for a quick buck.

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But in fact they are going to miss out on a significant

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chunk of the fee that he will get, no doubt in the

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next month or so when a big club comes in and signs him,

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as we all believe. Now, in terms of Conor

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Metcalfe, I wanted to have a quick chat about him. Gentlemen,

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I might throw this on to you. Scott Early, I don't know if you agree

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with my quick, quick take on this, but Conor Metcalfe

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didn't really get as involved as he did in the first game.

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And even when he came on in the second half against the U.S. i mean

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you could probably put that a little bit down to copping and boot in the

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face in the first 20 odd minutes. Perhaps it was that, but do

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you think it was just because he was playing on the left rather than the

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right perhaps? Well, the boots of the face certainly wouldn't have helped, that's for sure.

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There's no doubt about that. It did look a nasty run as well. Completely accidental,

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but no doubt it wouldn't have helped this game. Agree. The ball was most going

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down the right hand side for Australia with Jordy Boss and. And Christian Volpato

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combining the way that they were. That did feel like. And also Nestoria and Kunda

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preferring that right hand side channel as well. That seemed to be the real focus

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of the attack. So it does mean that the players playing on the left hand

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side probably didn't see as much of an opportunity as those on there on the

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right hand side. So that's probably a bit why a bit of the quiet game

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for Connor Metcalfe. He worked really hard though, and that's the one thing he does

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bring to the side. Even when he doesn't get the ball. You can see the

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work right and the energy he does bring. And also he's able to link the

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play and there were a few passages of play there where he was really important

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in just getting Australia out of trouble. So. Well, he wasn't involved in the front

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third the way we'd seen in the first two games. He played a really important

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role today in a game where Paraguay were trying to press in certain areas to

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try and get the ball back quickly and he was able to quite nullify that

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for Australia. So not his most important game, but pretty good one nevertheless.

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Yeah, definitely he was a key cog in in the game,

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but probably a little bit more behind the scenes rather than being the focal point

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as he was in the first two games. And speaking of midfielders,

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we saw the return of Jackson Irvine to the starting lineup.

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Adam, do you think that was the right call to. To bring him in for

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Ocon Inksler in this one? I think. I think it's more of a

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case of just. I think either way you're always

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going to get a good, a good outcome, I think.

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Look, while Oakland has been very, very good, you can't substitute

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Jackson Irvine's sort of experience in that when again in a game which

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where probably the draw or at least not losing is probably just

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as vital as winning, I actually think that Jackson Irvine probably is probably a

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little bit more so that controlled defensive. Whereas I think Oconnect

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actually show that he has got a very, very good long vulns. Probably more of

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an attacking midfield weapon if you sort of say they're coming out of sort of

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that number six roles. So again, I think it's a little

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bit of horses to courses. I think it's more of a case of more of

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a case of where that you could go for the known quantity in

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a. In a game situation like that with the experience of

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Jackson Irvine. But again, I don't think it's a knock on. On Paul

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o'. Connor. I think he's a fantastic player. I think he's a piece of future.

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A future midfield lynch pin for the Socceroos going forward. I think it's just.

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Look, you've got. If you've got that experience, why not use it?

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Yeah. Horses for courses is the right term, Alex. When you look at it,

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the first couple of games, Australia was sitting a little bit deeper and you need

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someone like Oakland Engel to be able to pick the ball up and out of

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defense and play the ball third through the lines. In this game, Australia had more

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possession and territory and he wanted someone to run in behind the defense and that's

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where Jack Snow on really excels. Those runs into the area to try and get

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on the end of things a little bit. Tim K. Less when he was more

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of a midfielder and that's kind of the way they wanted him to play in

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this game. Look, the game will come for Paul Ocon to come back in and

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it could be the next game against whoever it is and the round of 32.

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But I took a talk about the midfield. Aiden O' Neill was brilliant in this

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game, so he got the official Manly man of the Match award. And his role

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in midfield is. It really is. It's. Look, you don't notice it,

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but if he's not there, you miss it. It's such a crucial role. It's a

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bit like the Vinnie Grella role where you never really noticed what he did,

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but when he wasn't there, you knew it and this was the same case.

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It was a really good performance in a game where there weren't too many standouts

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in terms of creativity and flair. It was the unsung players who shone

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and he was certainly really impressive for Australia. So that's a really good point,

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Scott. I think Aidan o' Neill has come on leaps and bounds in

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this soccer setup and he might even be one of the first names on

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the team sheet if you ask me. Just because of that work.

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He knits everything together in terms of the defensive structure,

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but also the ability to. To play the first pass, whether it be to his

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midfield partner for Token Angsler or. Or Irvine or outright or

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he's happy to drop in just in front of the defenders to collect that ball

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under pressure. All really fantastic traits and. And again,

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maybe another player I know we talked off air about players.

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A lot of these soccer is probably getting moves. He's probably another one that that

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might have another hopefully I. I hope another shot

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in. In Europe. Of course he played a lot of his younger years in

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the lower leagues in England so maybe they come back calling for

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for him because this kind of midfielder is very much part of the

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modern game. Like I said the

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best number six is the ones that you just don't. You just don't see the

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way just this work hard you know and, and he. He fits that bill perfectly.

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And I look after. It's very, very exciting as far as you know two thirds

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of you know the midfield for the Socceroos in for the future.

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Yeah being Okon Angstler and Aidan o'. Neill. I think it's.

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I think it's a. It's a very exciting exciting sort of time. I think especially

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as well in defense that, that defensively as well you know with

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Kachati and more than likely Harrington and a few and if they say

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a few other sort of potential so center backs, you know coming through

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that at least it's one area that the Socceroos

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really really look like that they've got a future mortgage on.

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So it's great to see them performing in

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2026 because look out for the next couple cycles. Yeah,

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I agree. Yeah you'd probably throw Hayden Matthews in there if

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he can get himself fit at Portsmouth. Really, really good player.

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Jordan Boss of course who we talked about another player that potentially

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going to get a nice big move after this World

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cup and you know, and then look there's some attackers out

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there as well that didn't make this squad that, that are probably not far away.

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Zach Hapsford really impressed in Scotland as well this

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season. I thought you know scoring against both Celtic and Rangers pretty good but it

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wasn't quite in the the frame for the squad unfortunately.

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Anyway, I digress. Speaking of forwards though and I'll

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throw this one to you Scott. Aaron Kunda, he had a bit of a tough

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afternoon. I think it's fair to say he was you know being

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asked to. To be those sort of hold up man a little bit and and

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it doesn't really suit his profile. He's more.

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More someone to. To run in behind and have those three balls

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and to be fair, Paraguay did do a good job of marking him, don't you

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think? Yeah, they certainly did a good job of marking him. They knew he was

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a threat because every time he got the ball in and around the halfway line

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there Was a couple of players there really closing him down quickly. So they'd done

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their homework on his on the way that you can nullify him in terms of

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having his back to goal, not letting him run at them. And it's clear they

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were very quick on that front. And yeah, you're right. I think that we forecast

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it on the show. The last one of these we did that. But Erin Kunder

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is better in those that role where the two behind the striker wouldn't having a

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Toure or a Yankee in the front row because he's just not physical

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enough or to be able to hold off elite level center backs at this

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point in time. It's not his game. He can do it to an extent but

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you're not going to get the best version of him in that role. So I

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think it was a case of here they used him in that role knowing they're

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going to have the link up with Volpato and Boss and Metcalfe on the other

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side. You could link up and play a a particular way and it worked okay,

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but against certain opposition it doesn't really work. So I would like to

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see and I imagine that the case would have been they were just giving Motore

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arrest because of there is that issue with his car potentially. So now he's got

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a week to rest that up. I don't think we'll see Nestry starting up front

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in the next game, but he can certainly do that job. I just think we

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all agree we'd rather see him in the wide area running at players and that's

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probably where we hope to see him going forward. Yeah, definitely. Good and

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a good point there Scott. One that I was probably going to raise. But yeah,

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Motor, I think Motu in the best

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starting 11 for the Socceroos. You have Motore and Nestry,

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Iran Kunda both in there. Just a dual threat of pace in

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behind different styles. Of course Motore is a little bit more of a physical

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presence and can hold up the ball a little bit better than what

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Nestery can. There's still that problem though, Alex. The four into three and it doesn't

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get any easier because while Parto was so good today, it's hard to. It's hard

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to work out who you leave out. Yeah, it does. And look, it's a

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fantastic headache to have for Popper and again it probably comes down to the horses

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for courses discussion we have with Jackson, Irvine and

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it will of course depend on the opposition who we play. But Adam,

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I guess the, the slow start wasn't Such a case for

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socceroos this. This time around against Paraguay, which was good,

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but the second half sort of dropped off a little bit. Do you think that

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it was maybe a case of the fact that. That you know,

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both sides knew that they needed only a draw to get through

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and maybe that that constitutes why the. The drop off or. Or is

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there something there that maybe Popovich will. Will have to have a look at?

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No, I think. I think it's a case of a game situation. I think

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the. Once they survived, there was a flurry from about the 60th

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minute where Paraguay really sort of. I think it was almost their last one last

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gasp so to try really force the game. But once the soccero saw

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that out and changes started ringing in by Gustafo

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al Faro where. Where. And those changes were not really ones

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where. Ones where they were trying to change the game. It was almost

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cycling through but play giving players rest from

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there. I think the. The sort of real fire out of the game really came

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out. So I look, you don't want to. You don't want to just say no,

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it's not an issue because you do want. The soccers do want to feel strong.

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But I thought that probably the starting half an hour probably was the most

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important thing to take out of this game that they did. They didn't just get

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go, you know, wrestling laurels or even worse, have to play from

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behind. So the fact that they got two and a half time nil or probably

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the stronger of the two sides, I thought it was probably a good departure from

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obviously the USA game where they were just completely outplayed in the first half.

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As I said, the second half. Look, I'd say Paraguay may have

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just shaded but again, when you're not. You're not really pushing for the game,

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you're talking about, you know, you know, 1 versus 0.9.

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As far as Joe, that comparison, there wasn't really much in it and

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yeah I think it was. Was pretty clear for about 60

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minutes on that. Unless something miraculous happened or

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some big stroke of absolute luck,

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the game was finishing nil. Or both teams were content with the point and

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the passage through the next round. Yeah, that's.

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I think you've nailed that to be honest.

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Adam. Not much more to add to that, to be honest. I was worried

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there was going to be a wicked deflection in that late shot that Patrick beach

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had to save. I was genuinely worried that was going to be a wicked deflection

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and a one nil moment. That's. Yeah, that's probably right. And then Ceso

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had a couple of late dribbles there that were a bit. Bit concerning. And knowing

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the soccer's history of not doing it the easy way, it did sort

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of spark a couple of little flashbacks there. But we won't

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dwell on that too much. We don't want to tell old ball stories, do we?

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So anyway, let's talk about potential

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opponents for the Socceroos because we will be playing the

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second place team in group G which consists of Egypt,

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Iran, New Zealand or Belgium.

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So those games are on at 1pm tomorrow,

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Australian Eastern time. So make sure you watch them if you want to

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do a bit of a scouting mission and potential Trans

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Tasman derby, that would be spicy.

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But it's a bit of a difficult one because New Zealand have

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to get a result against Belgium, don't they,

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Scott? So that's. What are your thoughts there?

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Who do you think's gonna be the Soccero's opponents?

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Give me two answers. I'll give you the short answer and the long answer.

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The short answer is I don't care. The long answer is I don't care.

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Because all four of these sides have actually been pretty even over the first two

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games in the group, haven't they? I know that Egypt have the win, New Zealand

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have a loss, but really it was only the second half of that game where

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Egypt went over the top of New Zealand. I think all four teams have been

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pretty even and I think whichever way it does fall,

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the soccer should look at whoever they plan they can get through that matchup.

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There's no real dominant team here. There's some good players here. There's a Kevin de

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Bruyne at Belgium, there's a Mo Salah, you're well familiar with Alex at Egypt,

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but there's. There's no real team that you look at. It's not a France,

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it's not an Italy, there's not a Germany or Argentina sort

357
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of teams we've run into in the knockout rounds before. So I feel

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like no matter who we play here, out of those four, it's a, it's a

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matchup where we can go into the game with confidence that if we play well,

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we have every chance of getting out of the game. So we, I'm not worried

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which those four would be. I think if it's, if it's Egypt,

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Belgium or Iran, we would. We would globally be looked at as the

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underdog as always, which is where we've been used to. If we, if it is

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somehow New Zealand and look, fingers Crossed it is not because I want to play

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them necessarily, but it'd be great for them to get their first win and get

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through. But if we were to play them, it'd be a different sort of scenario

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where we would actually be expected to win. So that would be interesting. But we'll

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have to see where it falls and ultimately I'll go back to what I said.

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I don't really care who we play because we're through. Yeah, that's, that's a

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00:23:32,100 --> 00:23:34,440
good point. That's a good point. And I just wanted to pick up on your

371
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point there, Scott. In terms of De Bruyne, Salah, look,

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both getting on a bit. This is their last World cup, let's be honest.

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Most Salah's had a pretty ordinary season at Liverpool with injuries and being

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thrown under the bus and that kind of thing. You've got Kevin de Bruyne

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who's having a holiday in the Serie A because it's, it's a second rate league

376
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and a second rate footballing nation in Italy. And then you've got Chris Wood,

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second most generous. Yeah, that is, I mean, look,

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sometimes I get called a charity. New Zealand

379
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have Chris Wood who's probably the most frightening out of a lot of them.

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And, and I mean, again, he's coming off a season that was very heavily

381
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disrupted by a knee injury and only sort of worked his way back into Nottingham

382
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Forest starting side towards the back end of the season. So they're

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not the teams that, well, particularly Belgium. It's not the team that we once

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thought they were, particularly if that golden generation. But I guess

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to you, Adam, is there, is there a side you've got your eye on here

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that you'd like to play? Or are you on the similar thought process to

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Scott in terms of not really caring and there being

388
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four evenly matched sides? Look, I agree

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with Scott in most part because, yeah,

390
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I agree that whichever team does pinch a second should not hold

391
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anything fears for the Socceroos. I, I can hear now that

392
00:24:57,750 --> 00:25:01,090
the Euro snobs are probably howling us say, oh, go Belgium are a good side

393
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because, oh, they've got, they've got De Bruyne. They've got all these players that playing,

394
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play in, you know, top European leagues and whatnot. Haven't we learned that

395
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lesson that it's not about where these players play

396
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their football that matters? Because if that was the case, t should absolutely

397
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thump the crap out of us, you know, with the Aroula playing

398
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for Real Madrid and, and you know, and call for,

399
00:25:26,230 --> 00:25:29,510
for, yeah, for Juventus and. And whatnot.

400
00:25:29,750 --> 00:25:33,190
So it's a case of, you know, you take on.

401
00:25:33,270 --> 00:25:37,230
On sort of face value and look, Belgium have been probably the.

402
00:25:37,730 --> 00:25:41,589
The. For the team that's highest ranked in that group. It has been rather disappointing.

403
00:25:41,990 --> 00:25:45,310
But look, look, this is designed. They've got players that

404
00:25:45,810 --> 00:25:49,270
can do it. But again they're only the UK takeaway

405
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care. Actually the team that the Dark Wolves are probably. If there's one team I

406
00:25:53,220 --> 00:25:56,320
don't want to probably play is Iran and

407
00:25:56,820 --> 00:25:59,960
I think that is well and. But there's also a person we would love

408
00:26:00,460 --> 00:26:03,040
to play them. I'd say we don't want to play them because there isn't that.

409
00:26:03,540 --> 00:26:07,480
That star. Star player, you know, that, that really. I haven't really

410
00:26:07,980 --> 00:26:11,320
done, you know, much research. I'm not sure Asmoon Sada

411
00:26:11,820 --> 00:26:14,440
Asmund is probably. I'm not sure if he did another World Cup. He's. He.

412
00:26:14,940 --> 00:26:18,280
He was not picked for. Oh wow. Now get. Get this. He was

413
00:26:18,780 --> 00:26:23,740
pictured with the president or one of the royal family Arab

414
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,660
Emirates and I don't think Dem and Iran head on and therefore didn't

415
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,540
make the squad. So. Yeah, anyway, well that's. That shows how much I know about

416
00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,540
Iranian football is that I like Sa Asmon's probably the star player.

417
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:40,100
He's not even there. Yeah. And also as well all the geopolitical adversity as

418
00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:42,660
well where they're going to have to travel on the day of the game into

419
00:26:42,980 --> 00:26:46,020
Dallas, which again, you don't want to. You don't really want to profit from that.

420
00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,540
But this is also a $5 million game in real terms.

421
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So. So that'd be. That'd be one. But also as well,

422
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:56,640
it's also would make them very, very resolute

423
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and sort of very together as a team. On the other hand, I think that

424
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as Socceroos fans, I think we'd also like to play around cashing some receipts

425
00:27:04,020 --> 00:27:06,879
from all the way back in 1997. So. And I think if we're getting.

426
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If there's any time to play around, now would be the time. But look,

427
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,120
I, I was. Scott, you know, in so simple terms,

428
00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:18,150
I think whoever made it through, I think the Socceroos

429
00:27:18,650 --> 00:27:21,590
should at least back themselves to beat in Dallas.

430
00:27:21,990 --> 00:27:26,030
As you thought the mainstream media coverage leading up to the US game was nauseating

431
00:27:26,530 --> 00:27:29,990
being about one particular pundit. Alex, you wait until we draw Iran in the

432
00:27:30,490 --> 00:27:34,630
round of 32 and everyone replays that horror movie from the MCG 1997

433
00:27:35,030 --> 00:27:38,110
all New Zealand get through and it turns into a Trans

434
00:27:38,610 --> 00:27:42,270
Tasman showdown. You just wait. It'll be an interesting week ahead. If either

435
00:27:42,770 --> 00:27:45,610
of those two happen to be the opponent. If, if New Zealand do. If,

436
00:27:45,690 --> 00:27:49,330
if New Zealand do finish second, does that mean Football Australia have

437
00:27:49,830 --> 00:27:53,090
got pay the freightful soccer rations to get from. From Oxford

438
00:27:53,590 --> 00:27:57,610
street to the Dallas in time for the game? It's the last thing Football Australia

439
00:27:57,690 --> 00:28:00,169
they do if that whopping debt that they've got. Right.

440
00:28:01,130 --> 00:28:03,770
You'll have to explain the fee for what that is when it gets there too,

441
00:28:04,270 --> 00:28:07,410
by the way. Yeah, and probably. And probably US Customs as well.

442
00:28:07,910 --> 00:28:10,490
Yeah, yeah. What exactly? Yeah, yeah.

443
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,680
Just quickly, I wanted to do just a quick little I

444
00:28:15,180 --> 00:28:18,960
guess opinion on. On Belgium. If I may, if you, if you may humor

445
00:28:19,460 --> 00:28:22,080
me for a minute there, lads. For me,

446
00:28:22,580 --> 00:28:26,440
Belgium, very disappointing. I have to agree

447
00:28:26,940 --> 00:28:31,000
with you there, Adam, but poorly coached twice now.

448
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,760
You'd think they would have learned from appointing Roberto Martinez

449
00:28:35,260 --> 00:28:38,630
who was not. He's not very good. He's not very good,

450
00:28:39,130 --> 00:28:42,790
let's be honest. No, you're quite, quite familiar with him, Adam. For the club

451
00:28:43,290 --> 00:28:47,230
side you support. Absolutely. Where he had one glorious year

452
00:28:47,730 --> 00:28:51,190
off the back of quite funnily enough, Romelu Lukaku,

453
00:28:51,690 --> 00:28:53,989
who he now has, who came into camp overweight.

454
00:28:55,510 --> 00:28:59,590
You know, I think you've got that and then you've got the

455
00:29:00,090 --> 00:29:04,360
egos in this side. De Bruyne and Courtois don't get along and

456
00:29:04,860 --> 00:29:09,200
there's a fair few other lads that, you know, might not have the

457
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,560
togetherness that a team needs. Probably a little bit of got.

458
00:29:13,060 --> 00:29:16,520
Got ilks of Dutch shires gone by in years gone

459
00:29:17,020 --> 00:29:20,560
by. And then I think the other factor is you have this sort of

460
00:29:21,060 --> 00:29:24,720
really old generation of players like Courtois de Bruyne, all these

461
00:29:25,220 --> 00:29:28,360
sort of like 32 to 34, 35 year olds and

462
00:29:28,860 --> 00:29:32,060
then you've got a young crop of players that are sort of 18 to

463
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:37,140
21, but nothing in between. And that's a real problem for any

464
00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:41,980
football side in the world for me. So that's. I think that's where Belgium's

465
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:46,420
problems are. As for Egypt, I guess you know that they're powered

466
00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:50,340
by one man, aren't they? Mo Salah and Omar Mamush as well,

467
00:29:50,420 --> 00:29:54,020
a little bit. So, you know, it's not particularly the strongest.

468
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,890
The Kiwis we're quite familiar with. But yeah, Iran are certainly

469
00:29:58,390 --> 00:30:01,970
the. The joker in the pack if you like. Even though we're obviously

470
00:30:02,470 --> 00:30:06,290
from the same confederation, they're probably the most dangerous in

471
00:30:06,790 --> 00:30:09,890
terms of the banana peel sort of game in. In my Eyes.

472
00:30:10,390 --> 00:30:13,170
But Scott, I think you probably want to add to that.

473
00:30:13,570 --> 00:30:16,810
I'll just quickly. I would very much hasten to say that Egypt are a

474
00:30:17,310 --> 00:30:20,570
one player team because Mahmouche is probably the more dangerous player at this point in

475
00:30:21,070 --> 00:30:24,150
time compared to. To most Salon. If you focus on him too much it might

476
00:30:24,650 --> 00:30:26,750
be a concern. I will say I do agree. I think Belgium are the,

477
00:30:26,830 --> 00:30:29,750
the more well rounded and best of the teams that we could end up playing.

478
00:30:30,250 --> 00:30:33,350
So if you are looking for the more, more difficult opponent it would be the

479
00:30:33,850 --> 00:30:37,390
Belgians. And I, I know what you say about the friction between Courtois and De

480
00:30:37,890 --> 00:30:40,950
Bruyne and they have a bit of a Croatia feel to me this side

481
00:30:41,450 --> 00:30:43,870
where it feels like it's a little bit of a, a last roll of the

482
00:30:44,370 --> 00:30:47,470
dice with this golden generation although they have a bit more of a younger generation

483
00:30:47,970 --> 00:30:52,270
coming through. But for people like Courtois, Alex Witzel, De Bruyne,

484
00:30:52,770 --> 00:30:56,150
Telemans, Lukaku Trossa, this is really the last opportunity.

485
00:30:56,650 --> 00:30:59,710
They have gone close a couple of times. So I wonder we said this about

486
00:31:00,210 --> 00:31:04,110
Croatia as well. I wonder if at some point these aging sides will

487
00:31:04,610 --> 00:31:07,830
actually start to run out of gas and the fact that they've got a

488
00:31:08,330 --> 00:31:12,190
week off probably means it won't be this game here any round of 32.

489
00:31:12,690 --> 00:31:15,430
So I, if he had that to who I would prefer not to play.

490
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,400
It's probably the Belgians on that regard but I don't, I don't fear any

491
00:31:19,900 --> 00:31:23,240
of them. But also as well Belt also as well we talk

492
00:31:23,740 --> 00:31:27,360
about the younger generation. They do have Jeremy Doku, they do have Tressad

493
00:31:27,860 --> 00:31:31,520
as well from Arsenal. So there are, there are some good players but again it's,

494
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:35,280
it's where they get that balance right because with that said is Escortois,

495
00:31:35,780 --> 00:31:39,040
there's, there's De Bruyne, there's Lukaku as well which is the older generation,

496
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:43,040
the so called golden generation. So I think there's a bit of identity

497
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:47,330
cross as well. Just so, just while you guys talking I'll just not.

498
00:31:47,830 --> 00:31:51,010
So I didn't look completely foolish about not knowing my

499
00:31:51,510 --> 00:31:55,250
Iranian players. They've actually only got three

500
00:31:55,750 --> 00:31:58,930
players actually play outside of I guess of

501
00:31:59,650 --> 00:32:03,770
West Asia. We'll say mostly are local base

502
00:32:04,270 --> 00:32:07,570
obviously the Mediterranean. The striker place Olympiacos

503
00:32:08,070 --> 00:32:11,490
as well as Dennis Eckert, that's a really Iranian

504
00:32:11,990 --> 00:32:15,330
name. He plays for Standard Liege. So I think we've got one other player,

505
00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:21,200
what's his name? Jahan Buckar as well

506
00:32:21,700 --> 00:32:25,560
who plays for Dender. So only three, three sort of overseas

507
00:32:26,060 --> 00:32:29,520
based Players as well. So again, that does

508
00:32:30,020 --> 00:32:32,760
breed into what, what you like. I'd say, I guess that, you know, again,

509
00:32:33,260 --> 00:32:36,560
for a lot of the Euro snobs, you'd probably be even eliminating that very quickly

510
00:32:37,060 --> 00:32:42,240
because they don't have players playing in the Champions League aware of. So. But Iranian

511
00:32:42,740 --> 00:32:46,640
with the name Dennis echoes, that's as Iranian as Pedro

512
00:32:47,140 --> 00:32:49,440
Miguel and Edmilson is for Qatar the other day.

513
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,720
Naturalization. Naturalization. Although we really can't talk,

514
00:32:55,220 --> 00:32:58,480
we've got a Harry Sutar out there with a, a nice British accent as our

515
00:32:58,980 --> 00:33:02,480
captain. Very true. Yeah. Very, very,

516
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,440
very true. That is the modern game of football,

517
00:33:06,940 --> 00:33:10,600
isn't it? Yeah, the international flavor. Now, one more

518
00:33:11,100 --> 00:33:14,200
point I wanted to round out with. I guess I might throw to you again,

519
00:33:14,700 --> 00:33:18,200
Scott, first, the, this sort of third place qualification.

520
00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:22,760
Do you think it's added an extra level of jeopardy to this,

521
00:33:23,260 --> 00:33:26,560
the, the, the last round games? I think it's moved the

522
00:33:27,060 --> 00:33:30,600
jeopardy down. It's taken from the top two to second and third in the group

523
00:33:31,100 --> 00:33:34,480
because that's where the jeopardy is now. And it, it certainly has added something to

524
00:33:34,980 --> 00:33:38,240
it where the teams who have, who are in third spot, they have something to

525
00:33:38,740 --> 00:33:41,320
really play for and strive for. And look, we can have our opinions on this.

526
00:33:41,820 --> 00:33:44,400
The World cup has got too many teams or not. But it is very interesting

527
00:33:44,900 --> 00:33:48,120
when you've got teams on three points with a minus three goal difference like Scotland

528
00:33:48,620 --> 00:33:51,560
and we're basically saying that they are essentially going to be on the plane home

529
00:33:52,060 --> 00:33:55,320
because it's added real jeopardy. One win is not going to be enough in this

530
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,560
situation. I mean, Paraguay got four points and they're not mathematically through

531
00:34:00,060 --> 00:34:03,600
yet. They're all but through, but not 100% yet. So it's

532
00:34:04,100 --> 00:34:07,630
added some intrigue to these third group games where occasionally you used to get these

533
00:34:08,130 --> 00:34:11,150
groups where two teams won the first games and that was essentially it.

534
00:34:11,650 --> 00:34:14,550
And then there was a dead rubber in the third game and now there really

535
00:34:15,050 --> 00:34:18,190
haven't been any dead rubbers at all. Apart from the US against Turkey today,

536
00:34:18,690 --> 00:34:22,070
I don't think any other game has been completely irrelevant in terms of having neither

537
00:34:22,570 --> 00:34:25,750
side with a chance of getting through. So it has kept sides alive more often

538
00:34:26,250 --> 00:34:28,790
and it, it has made things a little bit more nervy. And I have to

539
00:34:29,290 --> 00:34:32,230
say I'm very glad that as Australians we have to not have to worry about

540
00:34:32,730 --> 00:34:35,570
that for one minute for the next two days because we were talking about this

541
00:34:36,070 --> 00:34:39,890
before we started recording and the mathematical equations of who's going to finish where based

542
00:34:40,390 --> 00:34:43,610
on What? It's. It certainly is confusing. I'm glad we don't have to deal

543
00:34:44,110 --> 00:34:47,530
with it. Yeah, well, funny you mentioned. I actually ran into James on

544
00:34:48,030 --> 00:34:51,690
my way to the south bank live site today and I think

545
00:34:52,190 --> 00:34:57,090
his words were. And shout out to James, of course, former Brisbane Football Review pundit,

546
00:34:57,590 --> 00:35:01,380
I guess, or host if you like, with these two. Fine judgment. The host.

547
00:35:02,020 --> 00:35:05,260
The host. Yeah. And he. Yeah, I think his words

548
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:08,940
were. He. He got an ice cream headache trying to work out

549
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:13,260
the equation if Australia lost today. So he's tried that line out a few

550
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,020
times. Yeah, there you go. So it's a, it's a James special, that one.

551
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:19,380
But yeah, I, I think it's. Yes,

552
00:35:20,740 --> 00:35:23,660
you're very much right. So we don't have to worry about that. We can sleep

553
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,500
easily and we get a couple of extra days rest, which is even better,

554
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,550
particularly if there's a couple of injuries floating about like they. There are. But for

555
00:35:31,050 --> 00:35:34,470
you, Adam, I guess what are your thoughts on. On this additional third

556
00:35:34,970 --> 00:35:38,470
place qualification? I just want to sort of move a

557
00:35:38,970 --> 00:35:42,270
bit tangentially serve away from that. But it is

558
00:35:42,770 --> 00:35:46,469
a related point and that's. That is real or discourse about as well

559
00:35:46,969 --> 00:35:50,910
the head to head being the first tiebreaker. And with

560
00:35:51,410 --> 00:35:54,710
that said, I think this is a big cause simply because of

561
00:35:55,210 --> 00:35:59,100
the 13. The thirteens. I think that if we went out straight out

562
00:35:59,340 --> 00:36:02,820
like it used to be, when it was really a straight top two, there was

563
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:05,820
really no. Our best thirds or whatever.

564
00:36:06,700 --> 00:36:10,060
Yeah. Then it made. It made sense to be this goal difference. But I think

565
00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,940
with the head to head, I do think that it does at least eliminate

566
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:18,020
the possibility of contrived results. I mean where teams

567
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:21,750
are nailing and scoring eight, nine goals to.

568
00:36:22,250 --> 00:36:25,910
Yeah. To do that. I think by having a head to head it also allows.

569
00:36:26,710 --> 00:36:30,270
Allows FIFA and the local organizing committee to already lock

570
00:36:30,770 --> 00:36:34,230
in pretty much where teams are going straight away especially this is a very,

571
00:36:34,730 --> 00:36:38,270
very logistically large area. And I think at least as well with

572
00:36:38,770 --> 00:36:42,030
the usa, even though they did finish first, Mexico finishing first roughed up

573
00:36:42,530 --> 00:36:45,710
very easily. We knew their path right through pretty much to the, to the semi

574
00:36:46,210 --> 00:36:49,870
finals anyway. But I think the great thing is because of this we're

575
00:36:50,370 --> 00:36:53,710
not still wondering, oh, is Australia going to Dallas? Are they going to Kansas,

576
00:36:54,210 --> 00:36:57,750
Are they going to Boston? Are they. Are they going to Canada or Mexico?

577
00:36:58,250 --> 00:37:02,150
We know and the path was always there. Once the US had qualified

578
00:37:02,230 --> 00:37:05,310
first, then you knew, okay, it's either going to be Dallas or we go through

579
00:37:05,810 --> 00:37:09,790
the lottery in third place and we may end up Some somewhere Atlanta.

580
00:37:10,290 --> 00:37:14,470
I think we, I think, you know, Scott, were discussing the permutations before today

581
00:37:14,900 --> 00:37:18,020
about that. So look, I have no problems the head to head.

582
00:37:18,420 --> 00:37:21,100
If you, if you don't like the head to head, then there's one or two

583
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:25,540
choices and that's. We either go be either reduced down 32 teams again,

584
00:37:25,700 --> 00:37:29,780
like hell in this FIFA era, or you go up to 64 teams

585
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,420
where it's even numbers as well. I've even had people complain about, oh, there's way

586
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:37,180
too many groups that they're just idiots. So let's. We'll leave it that. But yeah,

587
00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,780
no, look, I, I don't mind it. I really think that this third place path

588
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:44,030
in this situation, I think it's good. I think it gets some excitement.

589
00:37:44,510 --> 00:37:47,550
10 seconds on the other on the head to head. I like it, Alex,

590
00:37:47,710 --> 00:37:50,950
because it prioritizes winning. You're not going to the World cup trying

591
00:37:51,450 --> 00:37:53,230
to get points, get out of the group. You need to win games. And I,

592
00:37:53,310 --> 00:37:56,910
I like that the encouragers tends to be bold and win games and every team

593
00:37:57,410 --> 00:37:59,710
is getting out of the group is winning at least one game. And for some

594
00:38:00,210 --> 00:38:02,870
they'll win a game and not get through. So I like the fact it's prioritized

595
00:38:03,370 --> 00:38:06,950
as winning. Yeah, I, I have to agree. You have to give FIFA props when

596
00:38:07,450 --> 00:38:09,710
they do get it right, which is pretty rare these days, to be honest.

597
00:38:10,210 --> 00:38:13,860
And let's, let's give him a wrap for this one. But everything else,

598
00:38:13,940 --> 00:38:17,060
are they getting sponsored for this praise? Because I don't get sponsored for the hydration.

599
00:38:18,340 --> 00:38:21,620
Yeah, yeah. So I can't really disclose of

600
00:38:21,860 --> 00:38:24,700
how to sign an NDA what I'm getting paid.

601
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:28,780
Yeah. Have I got anything to hold up in. In terms

602
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:33,220
of advertising? Advertising now, luckily it's only an audio format, this podcast

603
00:38:33,460 --> 00:38:37,140
anyway. All right, gentlemen, look, any closing thoughts?

604
00:38:37,700 --> 00:38:41,780
I guess we get to look forward to soccer's

605
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,300
knockout game at 4am next Saturday morning.

606
00:38:45,460 --> 00:38:49,540
So make sure you set your alarm clocks and we'll be back here

607
00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:53,700
to do it all again. But Scott, any final thoughts from you? No.

608
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:57,260
We should. One last thing is we shouldn't lose sight of the context of this.

609
00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:00,540
It is the third time Australia have got out of the group in the World

610
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:03,380
cup and the first time we have done this back to back, so. Well,

611
00:39:03,540 --> 00:39:07,060
we are saying it wasn't the most enthralling of games today against Paraguay

612
00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:10,720
to get through it is a significant achievement. So I know that it is the

613
00:39:11,220 --> 00:39:13,200
second time back to back and we are getting a little bit used to it,

614
00:39:13,700 --> 00:39:17,040
but we shouldn't fully write off how important it is and the magnitude

615
00:39:17,540 --> 00:39:20,320
of the accomplishment to get out of this group, particularly given the quality of the

616
00:39:20,820 --> 00:39:23,360
group. It was a very even group, a very decent group in terms of the

617
00:39:23,860 --> 00:39:26,560
opposition. So to get through it is still a massive accomplishment.

618
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,160
Exactly. And we, we really need to think

619
00:39:31,660 --> 00:39:33,920
about that and you know, praise these lads.

620
00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:37,870
It's, you know, that game, particularly against the

621
00:39:38,370 --> 00:39:41,790
USA was rather deflating to lose away. I mean it was only a 2

622
00:39:42,290 --> 00:39:45,590
nil loss and we showed better. But considering the age of this squad,

623
00:39:46,090 --> 00:39:49,030
I think it's the youngest soccer squad that's been taken to a World cup.

624
00:39:49,110 --> 00:39:53,190
So it could have easily deflated them. So, you know, very much

625
00:39:53,510 --> 00:39:56,830
props to the coaching staff and the players themselves are bouncing back,

626
00:39:57,330 --> 00:40:01,280
I guess. And Adam, any last thoughts from you?

627
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:05,160
Okay. I just think as well the financial sort of side things as

628
00:40:05,660 --> 00:40:09,400
well. Football Australia do collect $16 million now

629
00:40:09,900 --> 00:40:13,760
for the Socceroos qualifying for the group stage. That goes

630
00:40:14,260 --> 00:40:17,600
up to $21 million should they be successful in Dallas next,

631
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,480
next Friday their time, next Saturday morning, our time. So again

632
00:40:21,980 --> 00:40:25,600
there's also a financial sort of gain from that. But I think more importantly,

633
00:40:26,100 --> 00:40:29,840
I think just, just, I think we'll just go enjoy it. I think as soccer

634
00:40:30,340 --> 00:40:34,090
fans and, and as Scott said, I agree it's a sense of achievement to

635
00:40:34,590 --> 00:40:36,970
be in the last 32 countries in the world is holding up to where we

636
00:40:37,470 --> 00:40:40,770
are in our world ranking. But I also

637
00:40:41,270 --> 00:40:46,290
think that there is potential that could go even further and around a 16 berth

638
00:40:46,790 --> 00:40:50,130
I think would be fantastic. Yeah, it would indeed. It would

639
00:40:50,630 --> 00:40:53,770
just sum up the hard work that Tony Popovic

640
00:40:54,270 --> 00:40:57,970
has done since he took over when we were in a very precarious situation,

641
00:40:58,370 --> 00:41:02,010
let's not forget that either. And rebuilt

642
00:41:02,510 --> 00:41:06,590
this side and over the past 12 months with

643
00:41:06,830 --> 00:41:09,790
all the friendlies that we've had because we qualified early.

644
00:41:09,870 --> 00:41:12,910
So, you know, there's a lot of positives to think about here. We've got a

645
00:41:13,410 --> 00:41:17,070
really exciting generation of players coming through and I think as

646
00:41:17,570 --> 00:41:20,110
we've mentioned many times both on air and off air,

647
00:41:20,830 --> 00:41:24,590
a number of them on the precipice of some very

648
00:41:25,090 --> 00:41:27,310
big moves. I think we can all agree on that.

649
00:41:27,870 --> 00:41:31,270
One final thing, Adam, I'll get you to plug the Brisbane Football Review

650
00:41:31,770 --> 00:41:34,710
one more time before we leave. Yeah. If you find us on Facebook at the

651
00:41:35,210 --> 00:41:38,830
raw review of Brisbane Football Review, Instagram and threads at

652
00:41:39,470 --> 00:41:42,590
Brisbane Football Review, Twix Football,

653
00:41:43,470 --> 00:41:46,950
drop us an email bristol footballview gmail.com and you can follow

654
00:41:47,450 --> 00:41:51,190
us on all good podcasting platforms including Spotify and Apple

655
00:41:51,690 --> 00:41:55,110
podcasts. Brilliant. Thank you very much for joining us tonight,

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00:41:55,610 --> 00:41:58,830
Adam. Really appreciate it. Same to you Scott. Pleasure as always.

657
00:41:59,950 --> 00:42:02,550
Great to see you. Talk to you again next week after hopefully a soccer is

658
00:42:03,050 --> 00:42:06,670
winning around a 32 cross everything. It should be very exciting.

659
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That is it for this week for the Aussie Football Review and Brisbane Football Review

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podcast for this week.

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Catch us next week when we wrap up the round of 32 game for the

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Socceroos. Until then, enjoy your World cup football.