00:00You know, the buildup for the game against Belgium was obviously well done
00:05and well-deserved, but the letdown was obviously something after the fact,
00:09and there's a lot of collateral damage going around,
00:12and there's a lot of blame game going around.
00:14Just your overall synopsis here, Rob, and what you witnessed building it up
00:19and what happened the after fact and the collateral damage that we're now seeing
00:23with a lot of blaming going around, your takeaway on it.
00:26Yeah, I'm not a big blame game guy.
00:29I understand it, and I know that's where people tend to go.
00:33I'm a half-full guy, and I think this is a realistic calm half-full
00:37that there were just so many wins for U.S. soccer this summer.
00:41To your point, though, the way it ended, you know, the optics of it,
00:45the feelings that you walk away from definitely hurt.
00:48You know, the good news, over 30 million people watch that game.
00:52The bad news, over 30 million people watch the U.S. play, you know,
00:55one of their worst games on the biggest stage they maybe have ever been on.
01:00So that part was frustrating.
01:01But overall, you know, I reflect back on the lead-up to this World Cup.
01:05You know, they played the second day of this tournament,
01:07had this lights-out start versus Paraguay,
01:09and it was a rocket ship that was ignited.
01:12And it wasn't just this team that was playing really entertaining,
01:15attractive soccer.
01:16People realized it.
01:18They said, this is a fun team to watch, whether I'm a soccer fan or not.
01:22And so many more people, when I say so many more, I'm talking millions, Dan,
01:26you know, came under the World Cup tent and felt welcome and safe there
01:30and wanted to explore it.
01:32And what goes on over here?
01:33What does that mean?
01:33And that was kind of like their gateway drug to watching how amazing France is
01:37and what Spain does and learning the difference maybe between
01:41South American style of soccer and what the Europeans do.
01:45So in the end, I think this country rallied around this team when, frankly,
01:50we probably needed a nice, clean rallying point.
01:54There's so many more millions of fans on board right now
01:58who genuinely care about the team and the sport.
02:01So for me, I think the U.S. men's national team off the field 100% delivered.
02:05On the field, you know, I always felt, Dan, that the round of 16
02:09was kind of that threshold.
02:10That was kind of the point that we had to get to,
02:14but it was also the point that I felt like I don't know if we can get past it.
02:18Getting to the quarterfinals would have been amazing.
02:20We've only played one quarterfinal match in World Cup history.
02:23That was 2002.
02:25You know, we're never going to have this type of home field advantage
02:28for this generation again.
02:31You know, we had a lot of things stacked in our favor.
02:33So that part and the way it ended, certainly disappointing.
02:36But overall, Dan, I'm thrilled it's not done yet.
02:38You know, there's still, you know, two more quarterfinal games to be played today,
02:42a third place game, semifinals, championship game.
02:44So there's still a lot more soccer, a lot more growth to happen.
02:47But in the end, this was an absolute positive for U.S. soccer.
02:50You know what?
02:51And Rob, you, of course, you're legendary on the weekends
02:54with Fox College Football, too.
02:56And I'm going to put a college football analogy in here.
02:59And you tell me if I'm on with this.
03:01You know, being in those big games all the time,
03:03when you're France or you're Argentina or like you're Alabama
03:08or you're Ohio State, there's something about being in those games.
03:13And when America's not in those games like that,
03:15when one of those games pops up, all of a sudden you're in the spotlight
03:18for the first time.
03:20And on top of that, getting the right to Jimmys and Joes.
03:24I don't care who the coach is.
03:25If you don't have the Jimmys and Joes, you're not going to win championships here.
03:29Do you agree?
03:30That's kind of where we are right now with U.S. soccer.
03:33We need more Jimmys and Joes, right?
03:35I like the Jimmys and Joes.
03:36Yeah, that one's made me smile.
03:38Listen, there's still a gulf in the talent department, right?
03:42And I think that's the biggest thing that we learned about the U.S. team
03:45on the field is that we just don't have enough, to your point, Jimmys and Joes, right?
03:49We got some Sams and we got some Daves, but we need some real Jimmys
03:52and we need some Joes, right?
03:54You know, and that's not just the starting 11,
03:57and I'm not trying to make fun of it, but it's, you know,
03:58we need depth and depth wins tournaments, depth wins, you know, championships,
04:04whether it's college football, NFL, NBA, or whatever.
04:06It's not just five dudes that are out there on the NBA court winning you a title.
04:09You need that sixth, seventh, eighth guy, right?
04:11So we don't have that yet.
04:13I think that was the thing that became very apparent,
04:16and that was frustrating because when you watch the first three,
04:19maybe four games, you're like, hey, we do have the talent,
04:22but then when the big boys come up, and this has always been that problem.
04:26This has always been that roadblock for U.S. soccer, a big boy, you know,
04:30whether that's Belgium, who I wouldn't even consider a big, big boy,
04:34but, you know, we got to beat these teams.
04:35We got to take care of the Englands and the Brazils and the Argentinas
04:38and the Spains and the Frances of the world,
04:40and frankly, we don't get enough opportunities to play them.
04:43It's really hard to schedule these teams in this day and age,
04:46so to that point, that kind of goes to your college football analogy.
04:48You know, it felt like Tulane getting into the college football playoff.
04:51Hooray, we did it.
04:52We're here.
04:53Oh, who do we have, and where are we playing that game?
04:55Uh-oh.
04:56You know, like things get real, real fast,
04:58so our talent pool has to increase the next four years.
05:03I'm, you know, and this is something I would have said in 94 as well.
05:06Like, we've got to get better players, and we've got to get more of them,
05:09and I don't know what that solution is because people have been trying,
05:13and they're out there.
05:15But again, you know, I think the biggest impediment is the dilution of our athletes.
05:21You know, there's so many different places to go,
05:23and soccer is not in everybody's DNA.
05:26You are not born with that like you are in other countries,
05:30like Uruguay or Brazil or Argentina.
05:32You come out of the womb.
05:33This is – you're a soccer person, right?
05:36This is it.
05:36Like, mom and dad and your brothers and sisters and your aunts and uncles
05:39and the crazy cousins and the grandpas and grandmas,
05:41this is what they're watching.
05:42This is what they're talking about.
05:43This is what they're feeling.
05:44They don't need to pay for a travel team, you know, to be on.
05:48They just go out into the yard or into the street and play.
05:51We don't have enough of that.
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