0:03

This podcast is presented by

0:05

State Farm, a proud supporter of women's

0:07

soccer and all women's sports.

0:09

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

0:15

I'd like to hear who each of you thinks

0:17

will win. And no cheating.

0:20

It'll be a count of three. You'll both say it at the same time.

0:22

And if you disagree, that's

0:24

the end of your relationship.

0:29

From Apple News, I'm Rebecca

0:31

Lowe. And I'm Brendan Hunt. And this is After

0:33

the Whistle. He's happy. He's back.

0:36

Happy as a stretch. On today's

0:38

pod, my cheeky lionesses

0:40

are through to the quarterfinal, but not without

0:43

some controversy. And a few days

0:45

on, we have plenty more thoughts,

0:48

shock, about USA's result.

0:49

We're going to talk about the difference between

0:52

controversy and controversy. And

0:54

we'll be joined by newly minted Premier League

0:56

minority owners and football soccer power couple,

0:59

JJ and Kaleah Watt. And

1:01

reminder, there will be adult

1:04

language.

1:14

Here we are, Rebecca, two days after the

1:16

US loss. I'm feeling better-ish,

1:18

trying to move on. But

1:20

you know, it'll take some time. We're at the end

1:22

of the round of 16, down to a final

1:24

eight.

1:25

Lots of aftermath from the US still to be discussed.

1:27

And we will get to that. But should we start with your sweet,

1:30

sweet English babies? Let's please

1:32

get into it. Now, first of

1:34

all, we scraped through. Scraped

1:38

through. We thought Sweden scraped through by a millimetre.

1:40

My cheeky lionesses, extra cheeky.

1:43

Brendan reaching Nigeria

1:45

hit the bar multiple times, and

1:47

their expected goals figure was much

1:49

more than England's. And they just outfought us

1:52

everywhere.

1:53

They shackled Lauren

1:55

Hempden and Russo up top. They struggled.

1:58

We had no midfield to speak of. in terms

2:00

of fight. It was very unexpected,

2:03

I would say, from England. That's

2:06

before we get to Lauren James, which we will. Nigeria

2:09

with a better team, quite frankly. In a funny

2:11

way, when Lauren James went off, it

2:13

became harder, as it so often does, Brendan.

2:15

We know that in football. When somebody gets

2:17

sent off, sometimes playing against 10 men weirdly

2:20

becomes harder than playing against 11. And actually, that's

2:22

what the Nigeria coach said afterwards. It became harder.

2:25

England had a penalty claim on Rachel Daly

2:28

for a push the referee gave the pen, then

2:30

went to the screen, changed her mind. I

2:32

wasn't screaming and shouting. I thought it was soft.

2:35

I want there to be contact in this game. Yeah.

2:37

So I'm fine with that.

2:39

But really, there wasn't a huge amount to talk

2:41

about. So we've got to talk about the red card. A

2:44

few minutes to go in the game. Lauren

2:46

James had been pretty

2:49

inconsistent. She'd had moments of brilliance

2:51

and moments of real Lauren James-ness

2:54

in the first 87 or whatever it was minutes,

2:56

but she drifted in and out of the game. And

2:59

that is often the case, Brendan,

3:01

when you're a young player. And that is actually pretty

3:04

much, I think, why she didn't make the England

3:06

squad last summer for the Euros because she's just

3:08

not yet consistent enough. She's 21

3:10

years of age, but

3:12

this is the thing. The stamp. I

3:14

mean, what is it with England and their

3:17

best players and moments at major

3:19

tournaments, World Cups, I should say 1998, I

3:22

was on a plane going to

3:25

Greece with my 14 best

3:27

girlfriends for a Zach in thoughts

3:29

holiday after a school. And in those days

3:31

in 1998, of course, when you're on a plane,

3:34

ain't no way you know what's happening in an England

3:36

game until you land to find out that David

3:38

Beckham had flicked out at

3:40

Diego Simeone and got sent off and with him

3:42

went our hopes of winning the World Cup. Because

3:45

of course, in 1998, just like every other World

3:47

Cup, we thought we were going to win it. 2006, thought

3:50

we're going to win that one too. Germany,

3:52

way Maroonie, stamping on

3:55

Riccardo Carvalho. Off he went and

3:57

off went England's chances of winning that World Cup. with

4:00

the quote unquote golden generation. What part

4:02

of Ricardo Carvalho did he stamp

4:04

on? I'm trying to remember. I think it was the crown

4:06

jewels. Probably

4:09

a red card, that's probably a red card then. Yeah, all right, carry

4:11

on. Yeah. He

4:14

was 20, Rooney was 20, Beckon was 23, Lauren

4:17

James is 21. Oh, of course

4:19

she has to take blame. She's 21, she's not 31,

4:22

she's 21, she shouldn't have done it. She knows that she's come

4:24

out and she's apologized afterwards.

4:26

But I do think that Serena

4:28

Veechman maybe is slightly culpable

4:31

by leaving her on the pitch. She had

4:33

had a very frustrating game. There

4:35

were moments not long before the red card, Brendan,

4:37

where she was getting a bit snappy

4:39

in challenges. And I've been at so many

4:42

games when you're like, okay, all right, the manager's

4:44

got to take her off or him off because you know

4:46

it's coming.

4:47

And you kind of knew it was coming and then it came. And

4:49

of course she's got the red card. So that's one game

4:52

she misses, but FIFA have the restriction

4:55

to give her a three game

4:57

ban which we'll see her out for the rest of tournament if

4:59

England were to make the final. So definitely

5:02

one, maybe two, maybe three. So I

5:04

think the manager needs to take a little bit

5:06

of fact on that one. The

5:09

good news and where Beckon and Rooney ended

5:12

so badly for them was that England went out. With

5:14

this situation, England went through. So

5:16

thank the world.

5:17

It's a whole new Rubicon, Rebecca. It's a whole new

5:19

Rubicon of England star stamping. This

5:22

is not how it's supposed to go. It's not.

5:24

As I'm sure you remember, David Beckham, they

5:26

hung effigies of David Beckham around the country.

5:29

10 heroes and one stupid boy was the front page

5:32

of the Daily Mirror in 1998. Wayne Rooney

5:34

was dispatched as a kind of useless,

5:37

hot-headed kid. Obviously he went

5:40

on to do great things. He was always hot-headed. What

5:43

I'm glad about is that Lauren James is

5:45

not going to be subjected to whatever on

5:47

earth she was going to be subjected to. So thank

5:49

goodness there won't be that abuse hurled

5:53

her

5:53

way and we can move on. And fingers crossed

5:55

FIFA are like super busy and

5:58

just like, no, that's fine. Yeah, one goes far.

6:00

and we get her back if we were

6:02

to make the semifinals, but now England have to play

6:04

Columbia. Good luck with that. Penalty

6:07

shootout, England win by four goals to two. Georgia

6:09

Stanway misses hers, but Beth England,

6:11

Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood, and then Chloe

6:14

Kelly. Chloe Kelly, the

6:16

epitome of a big game player,

6:19

steps up, does a funny little deer

6:21

hop. Have you seen it? It's called a pre

6:23

penalty prance. And then

6:26

slots it home to absolutely

6:29

send us through to the quarters.

6:30

So that was the story. Oh,

6:33

one other thing, Brendan, that's really interesting. Yes.

6:37

England have been, as you know, rubbish,

6:40

rub dollar rub at Penns down

6:42

the years. The

6:44

FA about four years ago invested

6:46

in this gigantic penalty research

6:48

project. And since then,

6:51

absolute world beaters, absolute

6:53

world beaters, men and women, just

6:56

if you want to know how to take a pen, just, except

6:59

unless if you're Harry Kane, come

7:00

and see us. When I would hear, you know,

7:04

as I was getting into soccer in the 2000s, and

7:06

one of the first things you learned there is like how

7:08

bad England are at penalties. And you would

7:10

read, they're like, oh no, we don't really practice them.

7:13

The fuck you don't? Tournament after tournament?

7:16

You can't possibly

7:18

replicate that pressure on the pitch. You can replicate

7:20

kicking the ball into the goddamn net, and

7:23

you clown shows, Jesus Christ. No, no, no, can't

7:25

do it, can't do it. So the fact that they finally come

7:27

around and it's only taken, you know, 30

7:30

years of failure is, I

7:32

guess, heartwarming

7:33

in its way. But Brendan,

7:35

what's so funny is that the tagline of this report

7:37

is we don't practice them, we prepare for them. Oh,

7:40

that's the stuff. That's what they needed. Right? That's

7:43

what they needed. Right there, right there. So

7:45

anyway, moral of this incredibly

7:47

long England segment is

7:50

Englander and the quarters, but they're a little

7:53

bit lucky. But

7:55

I know you want to jump on their bandwagon. I don't,

7:58

I mean, I wouldn't mind it. I'll tell

8:00

you though, if they play Australia, which they certainly appear

8:02

to be headed toward, and

8:04

it would be a massive, massive

8:07

event in Australian sport history, just if it

8:09

happened, I will be, I'll

8:11

be Matilda-ing my way into that match.

8:13

No, I mean, that's totally fine. And I get

8:15

that. And I actually just side

8:18

note, think if England don't win the World Cup, I think Australia

8:20

might. I know you're going Japan. I think I might now change

8:22

to Australia. But this is why I'm nervous

8:24

about England. They've only scored one goal from

8:26

open play without Lauren James,

8:29

either scoring or assisting. One goal. So

8:31

her right foot, whether it be stamping, scoring

8:34

or assisting, has basically summed up

8:36

this World Cup for us so far. So

8:38

let's see, let's see where we go. But I'm scared of

8:40

Columbia. I'm not going to lie. I mean, they're quite

8:42

scary. Very physical,

8:43

quite scary. Come on, England. Sorry,

8:46

I've gone rather long on England today, haven't I? So let's

8:48

get the other matches. Brendan, you are on the

8:50

ground there, down under. What have

8:52

you seen and where?

8:53

Okay, the first one happened that was Spain, Switzerland.

8:56

I was tooling around the Fox soccer

8:58

set over there by the Sydney Opera House, seeing how high

9:01

the people, well, that absolute

9:04

beat down was happening by

9:06

Spain to Switzerland. Spain was even like, here, have a goal.

9:09

Just have one, we'll give a fuck. And then carried

9:11

on. Watched Japan beat

9:14

Norway at a bar called Cheers,

9:17

oddly enough. Watched

9:20

it there with a heavily pro Japan crowd. That

9:22

was fucking great. Holland South

9:24

Africa match was the only match I've watched so far on

9:27

the big screen at one of the fan zones. And

9:30

then the US game, I can't remember where I watched that. After

9:32

that, so last

9:35

night watched England

9:36

and then Australia in an Aussie pub and watching

9:39

Australia in an Aussie pub. Now,

9:42

we're starting to get into it. You know, it was great fun. Now,

9:44

mind you, it's a Tuesday night, quite late

9:46

in a bit of a school night, but still a very, very

9:48

good time. And I'm so glad they scored before

9:50

halftime because by halftime, our jet lagged asses

9:52

just had to go. We are old. We

9:55

gotta go home. We will watch the second half in our

9:57

hotel room.

9:58

So you might've missed what I'm hearing, which- is

10:00

that when Sam Kerr came on, before

10:03

she even came on, when she took off her tracksuit, like

10:05

the crowds in the pubs were going crazy, just at the camera on

10:07

her taking a tracksuit top

10:09

off. Yeah, I lament missing that. I mean,

10:11

just watching it in the stadium, it was a rocky moment,

10:13

it was pretty fantastic. And boy,

10:15

I mean, that's the thing, what a secret weapon. In

10:17

moments like this, I always think of, I

10:20

always think of Enigma Montoya. Enigma Montoya,

10:22

who says as he's dueling

10:25

with his sword, left-handed, this is

10:27

why he's smiling, I'm not left-handed. And

10:30

here

10:31

is Australia, all the way into the quarterfinals,

10:33

like, why are you smiling?

10:35

We usually play with a great striker. Like, they

10:38

are not yet fully unleashed yet, and it's terribly,

10:40

terribly exciting. And then today I watched the matches

10:43

here in Sydney, in one of them through a

10:45

VPN, because they don't show all the matches on

10:47

terrestrial television. What a shame. Yeah,

10:50

but they did show France on terrestrial television, but still.

10:53

Yeah, but that's the whole point, isn't it?

10:55

I mean, we don't wanna get negative, but

10:57

when we're setting the rights to television, we

11:00

need to be broadcasters around the world, FIFA, we need to be selling them

11:03

on terrestrial television so that we

11:05

can, I don't know, should we grow the game?

11:07

I don't know. I concur,

11:09

I heartily concur. The

11:11

two games tonight of relevance, first of all, France

11:14

crushing Morocco 4-0, so

11:18

formidable opponent

11:19

coming Australia's way. And

11:21

the earlier match, Colombia beating Jamaica

11:23

1-0, the first goal, Jamaica had

11:25

conceded all tournament. Isn't that

11:27

incredible? That's nuts. Yeah.

11:30

But Colombia are just sturdy and

11:32

obviously have been so physical that since before

11:35

the tournament even started, Ireland had to cancel

11:37

a game with them half an hour in because Colombia

11:39

was just getting into it. So that

11:42

is the opponent England will be meeting

11:44

in their Lauren James-less form.

11:47

Maybe Lauren James did that like a game too early, we're

11:49

talking physicality. She should have saved that stamp.

11:53

I'm nervous, makes me nervous. They're strong, they're

11:55

aggressive, no thanks. Well,

11:57

they're coming anyway, so get ready. Okay.

12:00

Brendan, before we get to our guests, JJ and Kaylee

12:02

are what? I think we need to take a moment to

12:04

talk a little bit about the US. Because you know, this podcast

12:07

is so aptly named after The Whistle,

12:09

and we stick to that pretty much literally

12:11

every episode after The Whistle. But

12:14

that means that sometimes we are, well, not

12:16

quick to judge, but we come in with our

12:18

immediate reactions, I think it's fair to say. And

12:20

we're just human, Brendan, you and I, simply

12:22

humans. We all need just a little bit of time

12:25

sometimes to reflect on the story and then

12:27

come back with maybe more considered musings.

12:29

Well,

12:29

I've certainly changed my mind on a couple

12:32

of things, have you? I mean, I haven't changed my

12:34

mind on anything. I

12:36

still do believe, even though apparently a bunch of people

12:38

don't, that they gave all. And

12:40

it just didn't work. I mean, I talked on

12:43

our very first episode, despite picking

12:45

the US to win the tournament at the time, and this was my

12:47

big fence straddle of this tournament.

12:49

There were some odd issues that everyone was

12:51

saying weren't going to be issues. So

12:54

I wasn't necessarily

12:56

expecting a

12:58

thundering stampede toward a trophy. It

13:00

should not have ended like this. It should not have ended

13:03

like this. I mean, my only main

13:05

observation since then is just like,

13:07

oh my gosh, 390 minutes of football gave

13:12

up one goal and still out.

13:14

You're out. That is the cruelest, cruelest

13:17

form of this cruel, cruel sport. It

13:19

is, it is, because so often defenses

13:22

win championships, don't they? And in

13:24

your situation, like you say,

13:26

a millimeter and you guys are out. I just

13:29

had a couple of things. So I was thinking about

13:31

the Alex Morgan substitution, Brendan.

13:49

missing

14:00

a penalty in the opening game of the World Cup,

14:03

and then in the last 16, as it's going

14:05

to pen, taking him off. I

14:08

don't think that was a good move. I

14:10

think if you really want a big

14:12

moment for a big player, she

14:14

is the big player. And I think, as

14:17

she was called off that moment, I bet she was

14:19

thinking, really?

14:21

I've literally come up good on

14:23

virtually every moment in

14:26

my career at the US Women's National Team. It's

14:28

taking me off.

14:29

One other important ingredient, though, to that

14:31

Harry Kane analogy, it's also Harry Kane not

14:33

having scored for four

14:35

consecutive matches at all in any form.

14:39

So it wasn't done in a vacuum, exactly.

14:42

No, I agree. But Harry

14:44

Kane has scored a gazillion amount

14:47

of goals just like Alex Morgan has in his career.

14:49

It would be, I just think it's a strange thing.

14:51

I want to check those stats with our research department. Please,

14:53

can we check those stats? Do we have it? Hold on,

14:55

they're coming back to me. Yes, it's a gazillion. It is a gazillion

14:57

goals.

14:58

Told you, told you. She

15:00

is the talisman. She is the Harry Kane.

15:03

She is the talisman. To take your talisman

15:05

off,

15:07

because you essentially don't trust her to take a penalty because

15:09

she missed one three games ago. For me,

15:11

it's taken me a couple of days to come to this, because

15:14

I have criticized her in this tournament. She hasn't

15:16

been up to it, but she's still Alex Morgan.

15:18

And I think in a moment, I would rather have Alex Morgan

15:20

take a penalty than not. So that's one

15:23

musing.

15:24

But you know, Monday morning quarterback,

15:26

whatever the hell that means. Nobody knows. I

15:28

know we haven't got loads of time, but I just quickly want to run through a couple

15:31

of things. Michelle Acres talking about

15:33

penalty shootouts was so interesting. And actually,

15:35

again, I've had a lot of time to think the last two

15:37

days, and I've really kind of gone quite deep,

15:40

and I've read quite a lot, and I've thought a lot.

15:42

And actually, this whole penalty shootouts

15:44

are a lottery, annoys me a lot. She

15:46

got it spot on when she basically says it kind

15:48

of exposes you. And it absolutely does.

15:51

And mentality and strength

15:53

and nerve are all part of being an athlete. They

15:55

are, whether you like it or not, in every sport.

15:58

And so for me... I

16:00

think it's part of the game

16:03

that, and you love it, and I hate it

16:05

and I love it all at the same time, but I actually

16:07

think you're probably right, Brendan, Michelle A, because it's

16:09

right. It is the way to end the game.

16:12

It is a test of a different type of

16:15

athletic prowess. All right? All

16:18

right. Okay. So that's another reason. Point

16:21

of order here. I don't know that I love it. I just accept it

16:23

because I don't know that there's a better way to end a game and

16:25

you can't let these people just keep running out there

16:27

until they disintegrate. And you need

16:29

to have a winner. I do have a bit of a soft

16:31

spot for the old North American soccer league version,

16:34

which is described well in the documentary Once

16:36

in a Lifetime, which is about the NASL and the New York Cosmos,

16:38

and it's really great. It's like 95 minutes. They

16:42

would set the ball 35 yards out from goal, and

16:44

then they timed it. You have five seconds to score

16:46

on the goal. It's one on one.

16:47

You can chip, you can dribble, you

16:50

can just try a laser from there. You can do whatever you want.

16:52

So cute. But it brought

16:54

a modicum of athleticism to the proceedings,

16:57

but also a modicum of circus. So it's more

16:59

of a beat the keeper game. And they show

17:01

some footage of this in the documentary, and then they go to Johann

17:03

Krauf, who played for a couple

17:05

of NASL teams. And Krauf

17:08

famously a cynic about

17:10

many things in football. He will

17:12

give you the hard Dutch truth about anything, but they

17:14

asked Johann Krauf, what did you think of this? And he just

17:16

goes,

17:17

I loved it. I

17:19

loved it. Like

17:22

he's talking about his own child. So maybe

17:26

we can have a look at that crazy American idea

17:29

of the longer shot clock. That's

17:31

so American. They're like, hey, let's take penalty

17:33

shootouts and like really like change it.

17:35

They're just like twiddling. Let's pimp them up a little bit. Pimp

17:38

them up a little bit. Oh sure. Okay.

17:40

And finally, my last musing,

17:43

Mr. Vlad Galandinowski,

17:45

I think has gotten off

17:47

a little bit lightly. Maybe

17:49

that's crazy. A little bit like one Olympic

17:51

games, bronze, one World Cup out in the

17:53

last 16. Between the two tournaments,

17:56

Brendan,

17:57

he won three games and scored 10 goals.

18:00

And he won one of them on penalties. Yeah.

18:03

It was a bad choice. The

18:05

tenure needs to end. And the

18:07

United States need to get what Michelle Akers called a manager

18:10

with an edge. Let's find

18:12

somebody with an edge. That is

18:14

crucial. Don't care if they love him or not. Yeah.

18:17

I really get annoyed with

18:20

knee jerk. You gotta fire

18:22

him

18:23

stuff about managers after a

18:25

thing doesn't go well. But this is no longer knee jerk because

18:27

it's, you know, we had the Olympics first. You

18:29

can't stay in a job with such high standards as this

18:32

after those two performances. And I suspect he knows

18:34

that deep down. Of course. And I suspect

18:36

they will take action. But there's no need to take action

18:38

during the

18:39

tournament. One more thing. You know, it's very

18:41

easy in positions like mine as a journalist

18:43

and like yours to criticize managers. You

18:45

know, I hate doing it because I'm

18:47

married to a former manager who was a manager for 10 years.

18:50

And trust me, I've seen lows as well as

18:52

highs. I have witnessed all sorts of

18:54

stuff, which has been awful over the years, as well

18:56

as really, really good. Being on that side of things,

18:58

I know Vlaco and Donoski went into that World

19:00

Cup with integrity, with intention,

19:03

with effort, with heart, with everything. But

19:06

in the end, you have to accept failure as much

19:08

as you have to accept success if you go into being a manager.

19:10

And the players, just a touch on something you said earlier on,

19:13

the accusation that they didn't care or weren't hungry

19:15

is very bizarre to me. I've yet to find

19:18

an athlete. There might be one or two, but

19:20

I've yet to find one that doesn't care

19:22

and

19:22

isn't hungry for success at

19:25

that level. Yeah, they don't get

19:27

this far without that. That's impossible. So

19:29

let's just put a little full stop on

19:31

that situation. Uh, great.

19:42

This podcast is presented by State Farm,

19:44

which believes in amplifying the voices and

19:46

profiles of women athletes. By ensuring

19:49

coverage for female athletes today, State Farm

19:51

helps set the stage for women's sports tomorrow.

19:53

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

20:00

It is our pleasure to welcome two incredible

20:02

guests now who just happened to be married. First,

20:05

NWSL star, most recently for Chicago

20:07

and before that, Houston plus the US Women's National

20:10

Team, Kaylia Watt alongside

20:12

three-time NFL Defensive Player

20:14

of the Year and future Hall of Famer

20:16

JJ Watt who is now enjoying retirement

20:19

but staying busy. As he and Kaylia announced

20:21

in May that they've become minority owners of

20:23

Burnley Football Club who on Friday

20:26

will be welcomed back to the Premier League

20:28

with a small task of hosting reigning

20:30

champions

20:30

Manchester City. Hi

20:33

guys, welcome to the pod. Thank

20:35

you. Thank you so much for having us. We're

20:38

so excited. Thank you very much. Excited

20:40

to be here. It's so lovely to have you both.

20:42

When we first of course put you guys to this

20:44

day, we assumed that we would just be

20:47

talking about the continued kickassery

20:49

of our national team. Here we are standing

20:52

in the emotional wreckage. How's

20:55

it been for you guys this last couple of days? Where

20:57

did you watch that last game, etc? Yeah,

20:59

we watched it at home here

21:02

in Idaho and we are so

21:04

sad. We have so many close friends

21:06

on the team and to see that,

21:08

it was their best game of the tournament honestly.

21:11

To end in PKs like that, it's just heartbreaking

21:14

and we're really close with a listener.

21:16

So that was just both heartbreaking

21:19

but so incredible to see what

21:21

she did. She's an

21:24

absolute legend. She's one of the best national

21:26

team players to ever play and we're

21:29

just, we're heartbroken for them.

21:30

Yeah, we

21:33

talked a lot about how obviously World

21:35

Cups and the exposure and everything helps

21:38

propel the game forward and helps inspire

21:41

generations. I mean, it's just so

21:43

heartbreaking that it came to such an abrupt

21:45

end here. This team has been such an incredible

21:48

dynasty and success up to this point.

21:50

Kalia, are you of the opinion,

21:52

like some people, that if you have to pick out a silver

21:55

lining, that maybe

21:57

in the end it'll be a blessing and some insight.

21:59

way because sometimes

22:02

you do need to fall to then get back up stronger

22:04

and the US Women's National Team have been so good for

22:06

so long and very few have chased them.

22:08

But now they're being chased. Maybe there'll be

22:10

a bit of pain only for them to have a bigger

22:13

gain.

22:14

Yes, for sure. And I think right now is

22:16

a really contentious time. Everybody

22:18

has an opinion on the national team. People

22:20

are mad. People are defending them.

22:22

And honestly, it really just is

22:25

representative of how much the women's

22:27

game has grown. There's so much discussion.

22:29

There's debate. That's what we need

22:32

for our game to grow and for people to

22:34

watch and fans to get involved.

22:37

So it seems like a really

22:39

negative time right now for the national team. But

22:42

it's been amazing to see how

22:45

much engagement there's been. And I

22:47

know they'll come back. I never bet against

22:49

the national team. Even until

22:51

the end of that game, I thought, no, they're going to win this tournament.

22:54

So I know they'll come back stronger. They have so

22:56

many young stars and we'll

22:58

be cheering them on every step of the way.

23:01

Kalia, in terms of strength

23:04

of an athlete, the criticism that they're receiving

23:06

right now, is that just part

23:08

of the job in your opinion in terms

23:11

of they've done the physical side of it. Now they

23:13

have to deal with the mental side of being an athlete

23:15

in the spotlight?

23:16

Yes, for sure. And I think it's just a testament

23:18

to how much they

23:20

have moved this game and what they've

23:22

done with their time and with their platform.

23:25

They are icons. And

23:27

with that comes criticism. And I

23:31

think that it just shows the level that

23:33

they're at. And unfortunately,

23:35

it's something that they have to deal

23:37

with. But we were watching

23:39

the clips of them crying with their families

23:42

and

23:43

you just realize they're human beings. And

23:45

they've been working their entire

23:47

lives for this moment. And it's so painful.

23:50

So to see

23:52

the criticism is hard, but I know they

23:54

understand that they're at a level that

23:56

that's what comes with it and they know how to

23:59

deal with that.

24:00

Shifting gears ever so slightly,

24:02

JJ, I'm curious what has been sort of your

24:05

soccer journey. I'm sure you did

24:07

not imagine yourself 15 and 20 years

24:09

ago owning a piece of a soccer

24:11

team in a northern English mining town.

24:14

So how did we get here?

24:15

Yeah,

24:18

I started in 2011 watching the Premier League

24:21

and I really enjoyed that and just started to

24:23

get into it. Didn't really know anything about it but

24:25

was fascinated by it and I started

24:28

following Chelsea. It's no secret. I don't hide

24:30

that I did start following Chelsea because of the

24:32

video drug. But he

24:34

was my favorite and I just

24:37

started learning about it. I was fascinated by the transfers

24:39

by how it all worked. And then

24:41

obviously I met Kay and started

24:43

to learn a whole lot more about tactics,

24:46

about how the game works, about the

24:48

beauty of it and everything. And

24:51

here we are today on our

24:53

way over to Burnley on Thursday afternoon to

24:55

go see them play at the Champions of Man City

24:58

on Friday. And it's

25:00

been a whirlwind. It's been a crazy experience but

25:02

it has been

25:03

one of the coolest, greatest things and I'm so

25:05

excited to be a part of it. And we

25:08

have just a blast with it. I'm sure Kay

25:10

will tell you that I've jumped in both

25:12

feet first and maybe almost too

25:14

passionately about it but I'm

25:16

all in on it. I love it. First of all, I cannot

25:18

wait to see you both on Friday at Burnley.

25:21

It's going to be an

25:22

epic evening for

25:24

all concerned. But just how much

25:26

of your day, both of you, is

25:28

taken up with Burnley? Because obviously you guys have other projects

25:30

going on but it feels just from the outside watching

25:33

you both on social media. It seems to take

25:35

up a lot of your time, Burnley. Like you say,

25:37

you've jumped in all the way in. So just

25:39

talk us through how,

25:41

I guess, how much is your life

25:43

now, Burnley Football Club? Yeah, you

25:45

know, when J.J. first started

25:47

it, I can admit I was like,

25:50

are you sure? Like what are you talking

25:53

about? He really had this idea and vision

25:56

and I wasn't 100% sure

25:58

but it's been so much fun.

25:59

We've gone over there

26:01

twice now and we

26:04

just fell in love with the town, fell in love with

26:06

the people and the club and the ownership

26:08

group is just absolutely amazing.

26:11

So we've loved every second of it and

26:14

right now we're just trying to bring

26:16

it to America and get more eyes on

26:18

it and so that's really what we've been working on the past

26:21

couple months but we cannot wait to get

26:23

back over there and get back to Turfmore.

26:25

It's been fascinating.

26:27

It's been a really fun process from many different

26:29

facets from a business standpoint, being

26:32

able to be in the board meetings, being able to look at the

26:34

financials of it and being able to have those conversations

26:37

about the transfer window, about what your goals are,

26:39

about what you want to do. Also from

26:41

a marketing and a branding standpoint,

26:43

having discussions about merchandise

26:46

and sales and how we can grow in America and how

26:48

we can build that fan base and

26:50

then probably my favorite part of it all is

26:53

Vincent Company is an absolutely

26:55

brilliant mind and to be able to have conversations

26:58

with him and to actually discuss

27:00

tactics and watch film together. I zoomed

27:03

in to his staff meeting and

27:05

he was putting up cliffs and asking things about

27:08

how he can relate things to

27:10

the NFL and what we've seen in the NFL that

27:12

might translate to the Premier League. So

27:15

just being able to have those conversations with

27:17

a guy like Vincent to talk

27:19

through those things, it's really fascinating and I've loved

27:21

every second of it.

27:22

Just one final question for you both

27:24

from me. Whether it's women's football,

27:27

Burnley, Premier League, you

27:29

guys are both perfectly positioned to see how football

27:31

has grown since you have been playing

27:33

it in Kay Lea's case and watching it since 2011 with you,

27:35

JJ.

27:37

Just talk to me about the next 10 years. What

27:39

do you say? Yeah, you know, I think

27:41

that

27:43

this has been

27:46

incredible. This World Cup, the last few

27:48

years seeing the way soccer

27:51

has grown, football has grown in America, seeing

27:53

Messi come, but I really do believe

27:55

we have not even seen the beginning of it.

27:58

I remember in the NWSL, it was a great experience. when we

28:00

were fighting to keep teams

28:02

afloat and fighting to stay in the

28:04

league and now to see these valuations

28:07

of teams and people trying to get

28:09

in any way they possibly can. It's

28:12

such a cool thing. It's

28:14

been a long road for soccer in America

28:16

and I think that it's really just the beginning.

28:19

Yeah, I would agree with that 100%. I

28:21

mean, obviously, there's a World Cup and an Olympics coming

28:24

up in America. It's only going to continue

28:26

to drive attention and focus

28:28

on the sport. But I would also say it's

28:30

thanks to people like you two. I mean, to

28:32

you two have helped grow the game and helped

28:34

build this fan base into something wildly

28:38

incredible. I think you should

28:40

take your credit and your appreciation for

28:42

that because it is very special in two very different

28:45

ways. But it's

28:47

continuing to grow like that and it's fun for

28:49

us to now see how many more people

28:52

are asking questions. I mean, a

28:54

few months ago, if you said

28:56

Burnley, I don't think anybody really would have known what

28:58

you're talking about. Now people are asking us where can

29:00

we get a Burnley jersey or what time is that first Burnley

29:02

match? Like, it's really, really cool

29:04

to be able to have those conversations with people

29:07

and having more

29:09

and more people talking about it and paving the way. And

29:11

like I said, what you guys have done is incredible. So

29:13

thank you.

29:14

Oh, appreciate that. JJ, thank you. Very,

29:16

very kind. Well, to bring it back to Women's

29:18

World Cup here before we go, I'd like

29:21

to hear who each of you thinks

29:23

will win. And no, no cheating. It'll

29:25

be a count of three. You'll both hit at the same time.

29:28

And if you disagree, that's

29:30

the end of your relationship. Okay. So

29:33

three, two, one, go! Spain.

29:35

Oh, Spain. Oh, Spain

29:37

is fun. Interesting.

29:40

All right. Oh, thank you guys so much. I'll

29:42

see you Friday. And we really appreciate

29:44

you coming on. I can't wait to see you. Can't wait.

29:47

Thank

29:47

you, guys. Thank you, guys. Can't

29:49

wait to see you Friday. Thank you guys so much.

29:56

Thank

29:58

you. Even

30:00

or off the pitch, women athletes deserve

30:02

to be recognized for being awesome competitors

30:05

and for being inspiring role models

30:07

for generations to come. That's

30:10

why State Farm is proud to present this podcast.

30:13

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. All

30:19

right, Rebecca, the quarterfinals are set.

30:21

And I believe we had to go through the professional

30:23

obligation of making a prediction as to how things

30:26

be going up to now. Has anyone been keeping track of

30:28

that? Our track research squad,

30:30

perhaps? No, I don't really remember that. You

30:32

know? Oh, no, I have it here. I have

30:34

it here. I have here. I

30:37

got seven of the eight right. My

30:39

only mistake was believing too much in my people.

30:42

But everything else crossed it. Was I similar?

30:45

Very similar? Well,

30:47

I'm not going to... Listen,

30:52

friends, and it's weird how good you are at predictions.

30:55

We've got to address this. I mean, I'm not

30:57

being funny. Is there some sort of insider trading

30:59

situation going on here? Small.

31:01

It's weird. Small sample size. If

31:03

we were to do this for 10 World Cups in a row, there would be a reversion

31:05

to me and it would come

31:08

back around your way. But right now, yeah, yeah,

31:10

I'm a fucking genius. Give it to me.

31:12

All right, quarterfinals then. Quarterfinals.

31:15

Spain, Netherlands. Spain, Netherlands. I

31:18

feel like because I'm in the future, I shouldn't

31:20

even try to tell you what times of day these

31:22

are. Shall I tell you the American time?

31:24

Sure, sure, sure. For our listeners. So

31:26

Thursday, the 10th of August is Spain, Netherlands,

31:29

and it's at 9pm Eastern. Good time. Good

31:32

time. Solid time. West Coast, yeah. And

31:34

then you got Japan versus Sweden at

31:37

the wonderful time of? 3.30am Eastern.

31:40

Let's go. Oh, that's great. That's

31:42

great. That's going to be great. That's

31:44

Friday. Saturday, Australia, France, in Brizzy. In

31:46

Brizzy, mate. That's at 3am Eastern. These

31:49

are getting more minging as we go on. Saturday,

31:52

England, Columbia, Stadium, Australia

31:54

in Sydney at 6.30am Eastern,

31:56

which is great for the Eastern NOC. So good for the...

32:00

Brizzy mate, yes. Brizzy? What are you talking

32:02

about? Brizzy's, it's, rack

32:05

off, it's Brizzy mate. Ha ha ha ha ha ha

32:07

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

32:10

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Okay,

32:13

so yeah, are we gonna go through who we think's gonna win

32:15

these things? Uh, well sure. Or are we

32:17

revising or you're sticking? I mean, my picks are

32:19

on record and I'm, I'm a stam, I'm a stand by each

32:21

one of them. Yeah you are. Alright, well I'm gonna

32:23

go Spain, beating Netherlands. I

32:26

don't, I've no idea what I said before. Correct.

32:29

Ha ha ha ha ha. Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, this

32:31

is not what I had before, but I believe I had, uh,

32:33

the Netherlands beating Spain and, but

32:35

I think that's actually in trouble now because without Daniela

32:37

van der Donk, who is suspended for

32:40

a yellow card accumulation, Spain

32:42

actually should probably run

32:43

that. Japan against Sweden, we're both going

32:45

Japan. Australia against France, we're both

32:47

going Australia. Yeah, but it's gonna be a dog fight.

32:49

It's gonna be really, really tough. Okay. It's

32:51

gonna be a great, great game. And England, Colombia,

32:53

are we both going England? Yeah. Okay.

32:57

That's right. Okay. England,

32:59

Australia makes me feel sick in this semi-final. Ha ha

33:01

ha. Alright

33:03

mate, so any other bits and bobs for us? So

33:05

predictably in the aftermath of

33:07

a, you know, a tournament that

33:10

has to be called a failure on the part of the US, there

33:12

are various pundits and people from outside

33:14

the sport, especially who are taking potshots

33:17

at the team. And there have been enough

33:19

of them that it kind of actually highlights the

33:22

amount of great sportsmanship that there has been in

33:24

this tournament. And one of those moments of sportsmanship

33:26

is actually specifically about the

33:28

people taking potshots at the US. One of the Sweden

33:31

players, Kosovar S. Lani,

33:33

said defending against the inevitable criticism,

33:36

don't talk shit about the US women, which

33:38

is just wonderfully blunt. She went on to say, I think

33:41

you should be proud of your team. They're taking the fight,

33:43

not just on the pitch, outside the pitch.

33:46

I can't remember a time a

33:47

player from one team has said, don't talk shit

33:50

about the team we just beat. Don't

33:52

do it. Don't do it. And I think that is fucking badass.

33:54

But there have been

33:56

quite a few moments like that in this tournament. And frankly,

33:58

I think it's better to...

33:59

to highlight those than the people

34:02

taking pot shots because people taking pot shots just want you

34:04

to say their name. That's all they want. But

34:06

we've had some lovely moments, haven't we?

34:08

Yeah, I know. I agree. Australian

34:10

players hugging some of the Denmark players when they were

34:12

crying at the end and the England game, Chloe Kelly

34:15

and Alex Greenwood. And Chloe Kelly just scored the winning penalty,

34:17

but having celebrated, she very quickly went over

34:19

to the Nigeria keeper who had a really good game and

34:22

consult her and tried to hug her. And

34:25

I think that is the point, Brendan, is that these

34:27

women understand the assignment.

34:29

They understand that they are trying to grow the game

34:32

together. They're all on this bus. It's

34:34

a very unique situation. It's not happening in men's

34:36

football. It's only happening in women's

34:38

sports,

34:38

this kind of thing. And so they

34:40

have to club together. They have to go shoulder

34:42

to shoulder to push the game forward as one.

34:45

And so I think it's a brilliant example to set for young

34:47

kids watching. And it has warmed my heart

34:49

at the times that I've seen it. And it

34:51

feels like, not to exclude

34:53

you, but it feels like all women together.

34:56

you