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It would worry me if this is just because he doesn't have a better option. I want somebody in this particular position, especially given the year and a half that he had to be committed for the full cycle. I would want assurances, both personal and I guess, contractual assurances that this is what you want to do relative to the cycle. Hello, sunshine. I'm Alexi Laos and welcome to the State of the Union Show. This is where we look at the beautiful game on and off the field for the lens of red, white, and blue colored glasses. This show we will be talking live, if you are here live with us and it'll show up in your feed, so it might not be live for you, but those that are live, welcome. We'll be talking, obviously, about the news that dropped this Monday morning. Puchotino's return. We'll also be talking about Klopp and Zidane and some transfer news and MLS future and what we're watching and so much more. But first joining us, I was my friend, my colleague, my guiding light, David Mossie, a soccer, a soccer researcher and writer, extraordinaire, Mossie. Welcome back, my friend. Here on this Monday, August 3rd in the year 2026. How are you doing, my friend? I'm doing well and you know, the debate this morning about whether to go live or not did give me an excuse to go back and watch the Bill O'Reilly will do it live clip, which is my favorite clip in YouTube history. So thank you for that. It's wonderful. Yes, we are back. We have had a nice little break here after the epic summer of the World Cup. There will be some things that we will touch upon and certainly as you get further and further, Mossie from that, you know, maybe you get a little bit more clarity and maybe even a different perspective on what the summer was. I don't think necessarily much has changed in terms of how proud I feel and how awesome it was this summer, both from a Fox perspective and what the incredible team in front of behind the camera did, but also just in general what the World Cup was. I can, you know, I know it's anecdotal, but you know, as I go around and have over the last couple of weeks and talk to different people, it's been amazing to me to see how, how little the excitement and the importance of it has dissipated. People still want to talk about it. And that's a, that's a good thing. And we all recognize and we had talked about a Mossie that people were going to come into the tent and then puff, Brigadoune. It was over and people were going to leave. And certainly that is, that, that has happened, but still a lot of people lingering, if you will, when it comes to the impact that the World Cup made this summer. So I, I remain incredibly bullish about the future of American soccer both on and off the field relative to what we saw, the legacy of this summer, the way that it fundamentally changed. I think the way that a lot of people think about the game, think about this US team, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it just, it's the gift that kind of keeps on giving. But we move on. And 2026 will certainly be a huge part of, you know, context and everything that we talk about going forward. But it is over. And we move forward. And there's, you know, I think, cause to be excited about what is happening both on and off the field, the least of which is the news that we wake up to today. Yes. The win had been blowing in this direction and it became official today. Mauricio Puchatino will remain the US men's national team coach. We're coming to, on Monday morning, details are still filtering out. If we miss anything today, we'll, we'll talk about it on Wednesday, but the long and short of it is, it's a four year deal, hope, preside over a cycle that includes two Kunkak nation's leagues, two gold cups, and all likelihood, the Copa America, the Olympics in which the US will be coached by Steve Trundleau, World Cup qualifying, and then presuming the US qualifies the 2030 World Cup. Before I kick it to you for a reaction, I'll just say it's a fascinating turn of events because when Puchatino was hired in September of 24, we all assume this was the ultimate hired gun, short term situation. We felt like he's a club coach at heart. This is a random detour. He'll coach the World Cup and then be on his way. But when he didn't line up a club job before the World Cup, and I know he got criticized for talking to AC Milan, but if he was going to have a job at the start of this season, that was the only way to do it. Once that didn't happen, I started to think this was a possibility, and here we are today. So your thoughts on Puchatino staying on as the coach. Well, it's interesting the way that you frame that, Masi, because, and please correct me if I'm wrong, the way that I hear you talking about this, it's that he didn't have a better option relative to the club game. I'm up in words in your mouth, right? When you say that? Yeah, I'm trying to understand this from Puchatino's point of view. I have plenty of thoughts on it from the US point of view. Don't get me wrong, but I'm almost more fascinated from the Puchatino side of things, because we do view him as a club coach at heart. So if he serves out these four years, it's a long time now that he's taking himself out of the club game. But we can get to that. I think people are more interested in the US side of it. Okay. So when it comes to Mauricio Puchatino, and this decision by the powers that be, and again, I guess the powers that be right now are in flux when it comes to the US men's national team, as we mentioned, with the changes that happened over the summer. So who is ultimately in charge of this, J.T. Badson, and Cindy Pralakone, and Gutiñehu, and others out there, and maybe it's much more by committee. They come to this decision. And while me, and I think probably others out there, had advocated for moving on, to your point, I think it was a logical type of moving on. It would worry me if, to your point, this is just because he doesn't have a better option. I want somebody in this particular position, especially given, you know, the year and a half that he had, without qualifying for a home world cup, and now with a full cycle, to be committed for the full cycle. And I know I'm not naive. I know not everything is set in stone. But this particular cycle, with this particular coach in Mauricio Pochettino, I would want assurances, both personal and I guess, contractual assurances, that this is what you want to do relative to the cycle. And there's, you know, there's things that can change. I understand that. And so I don't know. I don't know ultimately what he is thinking. I do think, and this is from the outside, that as I said before, he has enjoyed his time with the US. I think he has enjoyed the, quote unquote, project, that the United States soccer federation, not just the US men's national team, but the United States soccer federation, is engaged in right now in terms of, you know, facilities and development. And, you know, changing the culture. He loves to talk about the culture. And I think he feels like he has implemented a culture, however he defines it. I don't know, he would have to define it. That he wants to extend and continue to implement because he feels that there is gold to be mine. Through that, through that culture. But let's be honest, Masi, when it comes to Mauricio Puchotino and his job and role. It was to win the game against Belgium. And in that moment, he and this team failed. Is that being simplistic? No, I don't, I actually don't think it is being simplistic. When it comes, somebody asked me earlier this morning about the pressure that Mauricio Puchotino feels. I don't think that there is pressure relative to qualifying for Conca Caff, which is something that's going to be new and something he is going to have to do. And let's be honest, there was a time where we didn't qualify coming out of Conca Caff, but I don't think that there's pressure relative to that. I don't think that there's pressure relative to, whether it's Copa America or Gold Cup or Nation's League or any of the friendlies. Ultimately, where he is again going to be judged is if he is going to get us to that rarified air and that promised land. And for a lot of people, and that was made very, very clear this summer, that is winning the round of 16 game. I'm telling you right now, Masi, if this US team, Mauricio Puchotino, this summer had found a way to get past Belgium. All of this talk and all of this self-examination, whether it's, you know, pay to play and play your development and style of play and who we are as a soccer playing nation. That all goes away. Nobody is screaming and yelling about that. Now, that's the fine margin, but that's what Mauricio Puchotino has signed up for, whether he likes it or not or whether he understands it or not. I don't know. I think he does. And I think he recognizes it. And I think that that is ultimately fail. When Greg Berhhalter was fired mid-cycle, it was because the United States State Soccer Federation and the leadership there believed that there was a possibility of failing, not just at a World Cup, but the most important World Cup since 1994, a home World Cup. And with this team being used as a proxy for who we are as a soccer playing nation, those were the stakes. And so I'm fine with this. It's not like I'm bent out of shape or anything like that. I think Mauricio Puchotino is fine. I think that he will be a better coach this cycle than he was last cycle. It's inevitable, I think, because I think he will have learned lessons and we'll do things differently as a lot of us will when we get an opportunity to continue on. But ultimately, I guess that final judgment will come four years from now and it remains to be seen whether he is even going to be charged in charge four years from now. It would really disappoint me if after all of this and this decision that it has been made today, if Mauricio Puchotino was not the coach four years from now because he saw something better or took a different job someplace else. Yeah, I'm good with this as well. I generally don't like coaches doing multiple cycles, but what I really mean by that is two full cycles. The fact that he took over in the middle of the last one I think makes this okay. The Belgium debacle, notwithstanding, I saw enough good things and we know about his pedigree. So if he wants to stay on, I think you take the burden the hand rather than embarking on another coaching search. We know how messy those have been lately. So I'm okay with this. However, I agree with you 100%. This better be a genuine four year commitment. I actually saw a couple of people on XA well, as long as he stays through the Copa American does a good job and hands off to somebody else. That's not the end of the world. That is ridiculous to me. I'm sorry. The euros is the only regional tournament that has enough juice to justify operating on two-year cycles. If you're a conca-calf coach, you're operating on a four year cycle. So he needs to stay through the next World Cup. And I know the media can't help themselves. So any club job that opens up his name is going to be mentioned. He better shoot those down quickly and not have it become this drawn out thing where he meets with the team to see if I'm going to stay or go because that's going to be annoying too. So I hope by signing this contract today, he is making a genuine four year commitment to the US. Yeah, I see. We try to picture ourselves in the negotiation that happened. And by the way, again, the massive paycheck that Marisa Puchotino commands, and I think at times you can argue fairly so, is continued to be subsidized by outside benefactors, which enables the United States Soccer Federation to do this. And that's fine. Ultimately, when he comes from, if you believe he's the best person for the job, that's fine. But again, the amount of money, $1 million, whatever it ends up being, that, you know, of itself says, we want special things. And we want things that we haven't seen before. And so, you know, that's where that pressure comes. I don't think, again, that that pressure is relative to Copa America, somebody actually about Copa America the other day. And I think that the participation of the US team, whether it's under Puchotino or not, but the participation over the last years of the United States, and it goes back to my time, by the way, of the United States men's national team in Copa America. That's a good thing, all right, because let's be honest. Comable, as you know, full well, has 10 members, okay? Let's be honest. If you're looking at the competitive nature of Comable, relative to the United States men's national team, well, you're competitive with, you know, let's say six to seven of those teams that give us really, really good games. All right. And I know it changes, you know, Chili's and the Peru's, they come in and out. But let's be honest, that's really, that is a good percentage of the Comable teams that give us good quality games. Again, in Copa America, which is in a tournament setting. So that's beneficial relative to the World Cup. As opposed to, you know, Conca Caff, where there's 41 members. And if we're being generous, maybe two to three of them really give us competitive games, so continuing to play in those tournaments is good. But it's all with an end game of 2030 in the summer of 2030 and winning that game in that round of 16. Obviously getting there, but winning that game in the round of 16. And that is how Mauricio Pochettino is going to be judged. Doesn't matter whether that's fair or not, that's the reality. And if you need any more proof, then look what happened to this summer. Look at the reaction when the United States lost to Belgium. And how the narrative changed, and how the stories changed, and how the assessment changed. So it's like a, you know, the divers or the gymnasts in the Olympics. They work all of that, all of those years for that one, I don't know, could be 92nd routine. It could be 10 seconds. It could be 2.3 seconds, you know, jumping up a dining port. And that's what you are ultimately judged, judged upon. Doesn't mean you haven't worked. And it doesn't mean that you aren't worthy of praise for all of that work that you've done. But this is what Mauricio Pochettino is going to be judged on. And Jerry Seinfeld has a hilarious bit about Olympic athletes, and you work for four years, and then you've run a race, and it's 0.1 second that determines whether you're a winner and loser for the rest of your life. But yeah, very quickly on the Copa America, I know this is probably not what our Fox bosses want to hear, but for me, the perfect scenario would be for the US to take part in the Copa America, but not host it. I know seeing what a success this World Cup was, I mean, soccer execs any excuse to hold the tournament in the United States are going to take it. So the US being involved probably means they're going to host it as well. But you can speak to what a great experience 93 and 95 was. And I think it would really serve this group of US players well to play in a Copa America in South America. I'm not sure it's going to happen though. Yeah, and I think if Mauricio Pochettino now learning over the last two years and, you know, recognizing, I think rightfully so mistakes that he made and wanting to correct those are going in a different direction. We'll talk a little bit about going forward, but I think at the very least he will be. He will have an appetite for as many different challenges in terms of the competition in terms of the location, in terms of the scenario as possible for this team. And he is going to go through a conca-caf qualifying process. If he stays, he's going to go through a conca-caf qualifying process, which it does provide some blooding that he didn't have as an option this these last couple of years for this team. And so who knows, maybe a, I don't know, I'm throwing out there, a, you know, Diego Luna. Had he been involved in a conca-caf qualifying process? Maybe at the end, the assessment of him might have been different. I'm just using it as an example. There could be plenty of other players out there. And I think we will see plenty of other players that he brings in immediately, I think starting this fall. So I guess we could spin it forward if you want. Well, and the discourse changes. Back when we thought he was just a higher gun for a couple of years, nobody cared about his take on youth national teams and player development and all the rest. He was just being brought in to lead the senior team to a successful World Cup. Now if you're going to stay on for a whole other cycle, which would make it six years in total, now people are looking for him to be a transformative figure in US soccer, you know, almost as Clinton's been asked a guy that's going to revamp. And there's always talk now about him being close contact with the youth national team coaches and creating this sort of pipeline. So it does change the situation a little bit. I know ultimately what you care about, though, is how far they go in the 2030 World Cup. That's what's going to piss you something, Mossy, because you're absolutely right. And I think if you read, not just between the lines, and some of the stuff that is coming out here, Mauricio Pochettino's role is much more than, now I'm not saying he's a technical director for the entire United States soccer federation, but it is obvious that he wants to be involved with the principles and the ethos and the style of play and of not just the US men's national team, but in general. Now, I don't necessarily think that that's a bad thing, but how does that manifest? Like what is he doing as the US men's national team coach, slash whatever it ends up being to fundamentally change the trajectory of American sock? What do you think he's doing and saying? I mean, I guess he would be having a say on who the youth national team coaches are and the style of play of those teams in which players are brought in. You know, I mentioned the Olympics. It's going to be Trundalo coaching the team. Do you think Pochettino will be closely involved in dictating to Trundalo? I need you to play these guys because I want them to be bled in because I envision a role for them in 2030. So I guess it would be something like that. Yeah. All right. Well, I mean, if it gets us to a place where ultimately it benefits the national team, I think it's difficult and I think it's dangerous to think that you can make changes that are going to impact the in totality, everything about about American soccer. But, you know, if it does make changes and there is the, you know, the vertical integration that we talk so much about in the US men's national team, and recent Pochettino has his finger on that. And then again, it benefits ultimately four years from now. I guess, I guess that's a good thing. And I will say having seen him immerse himself not just in America as a country and culture, which I think is important, but also in American soccer. I mean, he is much more educated and fluent in what is happening with American soccer out there. The good and the bad. I think he's been exposed to it all. And certainly this summer, he got another healthy dose of, you know, some of the the challenges that we that we see. Now, whether he can change any of those or impact any of those, I don't know. But I think at least he's starting to think about some of these things bigger picture. I hope it doesn't take away from ultimately what is, like we said, going to be how he is going to be judged. But this is this could be interesting in terms of how his role is redefined. And if there are any positive, if there is any positive impact from doing so. Now we've been talking about this for 50 minutes and we've yet to mention dual nationals. There's a type of US fan whose head is exploding right now because if you go on X, you'll see there are certain US fans that this is like front of mind, number one thing. I'm only okay with this. I've put Chattino truly in braces, dual nationals. And I'm not saying that's wrong. We're coming off a world cup in which the US's best player was full adding ballad and so it is important. Nevertheless, do you think some US fans focus too much on that or too obsessed with dual nationals? Or no, you think that is a very important component of being a US coach in this day and age. Oh no, I think that dual nationals and the recruitment and the lobbying is fundamental. And not just for the US for most teams. And when we saw it all over the map this summer and it will continue to be an important part. You know, as our as our world changes and as borders come and come and go. And what's not just duals is try nationals and you know all the all the different things. So yeah, but I but I I didn't I wasn't under the impression that we weren't doing that. I mean, I don't see Brazil puts a Tino somehow looking across at the map and the spectrum of dual nationals and you know throwing talent out or not doing everything. Now look, he's not going to grovel nor should he. If you if you want to play for the US men's national team, we have to make a pitch. But the player has to meet us halfway. I think because I think if you don't, then you're just an mercenary type of situation. I do think that that will manifest and usually at the worst possible time. And it will bite you in the ass. And you certainly don't want that. And I think Marisa Puchotino more so than anybody recognizes that. But I else, but I just didn't I didn't think in this last cycle or the last couple of years that Puchotino and company. Who put the dual national situation? So I get what people are saying out there. I think we're going to continue and keep in mind credit where credit is due. The US men's national team for years decades now has gone out and gotten dual nationals out of necessity. And I don't think that that's necessarily a problem. But when we are talking about, you know, I talked about the US men's national team being a proxy for what American soccer is, what our American soccer culture is. When we talk about the players that ultimately represent us on the field. There are very, very different pathways that many of these players have taken. And so when we're talking about American soccer development and especially youth soccer development. All right. You know, a player like. You know, Flobaligan or anybody else is a very different pathway than a, you know, Sebastian Berhalter or or somebody else. And so having domestic players. Players that grow up in the quote unquote American you soccer system. And are given the pathways and given the opportunities and given the resources. So that they then can represent the US at the at the full international level and hopefully do things that we haven't seen before. Yeah. That's important because again, if it's all just a bunch of. The dual nationals that doesn't necessarily tell me anything. Okay. But if it's a dual national that has absolutely no connection to the United States or to the youth soccer. History or the youth soccer pathway that exists. Then, you know, what are we, what are we celebrating here other than actually winning games and competition, which is important don't get me wrong. But we can't hold somebody up. Relative to our success as a national as a as a nation in producing quality players from a young age. If that player hasn't gone through that process. By the way, today's news leaves Doug McIntyre way out there because you might recall he wrote a scathing column saying it would be preposterous to bring Puchotino back after that humiliating loss to Belgium. So I don't know if Doug's ever going to be allowed in that building again to interview anybody affiliated with US soccer. No, listen, I, I loved that article. I loved the opinion. I think he actually was fair in the way that he assessed the situation. And I think Marisa Puchotino is a big boy. He understands that whether it's Doug or even me at times and others had no problem moving on and maybe even believe that that was absolutely the thing that needed to be done. And I think it just goes back to Mauricio. My question to him would be you lost the most important game. And not just lost it like that. I was handed to in the most important game. Why should we continue on with you? Why was that the case? You were paid all of this money and given all of this responsibility specifically for that game. One job. And in that moment, you failed. Great coaches can fail at different times. But so what is the justification from the US soccer federation? And what is even Marisa Puchotino's justification as to why he should continue on? It was just one of those days. Okay. I mean, that's, that's not a completely unreasonable type of response. All sports, all teams just have one of those days. And if it was truly just one of those days, okay. But we need to hire a coach that is going to do everything in his power to make sure that on that special day, we don't have one of those days. And in this case, I hope it's Mauricio Puchotino relative to four years from now. International football is having a moment right now in terms of managerial prestige. We know you've got Puchotino staying on with the US, Tucco with England, Ancelotti with Brazil. It is confirmed. Zinedine Sedan has been appointed as france boss, succeeding to be at a shop. And Jürgen Klopp has taken over Germany. Italy also pursued Pep Guardiola more on that in a minute. But did you see Klopp's introductory press conference? This was extraordinary. He came out guns blazing said, basically, I'm doing you a favor. But if you come after my family, I'm going to quit. I've never seen a coach threaten to resign in his opening press conference. It was, it was a little weird. I love Jürgen Klopp. I love him as a coach. And I love him as, you know, a personality. And so this just kind of fed right into who Jürgen Klopp is in that he doesn't suffer fools. He's also, let's be honest, been around long enough where he has a few money. And, you know, this is a kind of big swing and you know what? Establishing and, you know, marking his territory. Was it the right thing to do? I don't know. What's right or wrong? I don't doubt that he actually believes this. My problem would be if it would be if if he is saying that he cannot be criticized. Or I'm not putting words in his mouth. So if you go after my family, I'm gone. If you think I'm rubbish, tell me to my face and I'll leave immediately. Does that mean that the press out there that says, hey, I thought you were rubbish, rubbish today. And I thought the team was rubbish today. So now he's gone. Does that mean you can't say anything? And, and I know Jürgen Klopp, if he was here, he'd probably say, no, that's not what I'm saying at all. I think he was just kind of in his way, establishing ground rules for, for the way that he sees the job and that way that he sees maybe a more adversarial type of situation between him and the media that, that is to come. But I, I would just, I would hope that if and when he is criticized, not if, when he is criticized, because it's going to happen, that he doesn't use that as an excuse to kind of walk away and that everybody's walking on eggshells when it comes to possibly being the person that criticized him and therefore the one responsible for Jürgen Klopp saying, I don't need this. I, I am out of here. I get it. You don't need to do this from a, from a financial perspective. You don't need to do it from a cachet and a reputation perspective. You don't need, you don't need to do it. But that doesn't absolve you from, from criticism and maybe some harsh criticism and maybe some criticism that you don't even think is fair. It comes with the territory. You should know that. So it was, it was wonderful. It was great. It gives us something to talk about. But it was kind of funny to hear. Now, the Italy stuff is fascinating. After missing three straight-world cups there in need of speaking of Germany, does reboot of their own. So they appointed Paolo Maldini as their technical director, told him to find a new coach. He actually approached Ancelotti who chose to stay with Brazil. And he also approached Pep Guardiola and Pep did the Frank Sinatra move. Sinatra, whenever he was offered a move he didn't really want to do. He would ask for a crazy amount of money figuring if they say no, I didn't want to do it anyway. If they say yes, for that amount, why not? So Pep evidently asked for 20 million euros a year. So the Italian Federation said no to that. So having missed out on Pep and Ancelotti, the next guy in Maldini's list was André Apirlo, his former teammate, where they see Milan. So he appointed him. But the Italian Federation President wasn't sold on Pirlo. It contrived that there was an issue with some sponsorship deal. He had with a Russian betting firm. Nobody buys it. That was the real problem. They just didn't want him as the coach. So he blocked the Pirlo appointment, Maldini resigned in protest. And the end result is that Roberto Mancini was appointed as the coach. And Ancelotti Ranieri was appointed as a technical director taking Paolo Maldini's job. So that's how Italy are moving forward. But let's talk about the Pep thing. How interested would you have been in Pep as the Italy coach? A lot of people think that given Italy's lack of talent right now, this would have been the biggest challenge of Pep's career to see if he can take this crop of Italian players and get them to play beautiful soccer and compete for major trophies. Would you have been intrigued by Pep taking over Italy? Oh, yeah. I thought it would. I thought it was a money aside. I thought it would be kind of the perfect place for Pep to take over. Because I know they haven't qualified for World Cups. And they have this up and down thing. And I know this isn't an Italy of your. I get that. But this is also an Italian team, an Italian team that has had success recently when it comes to the Euros. Hasn't had success when it comes to the World Cup. And so you can bring them back to the promised land. And I think even for a guy like Pep, you have to have a situation. If you're going international where there's lower expectations and believe me, there is low expectations when it comes to this Italian team. So I just, but, but underneath the hood, it's not as, it's not as bad. At least I don't think it's as bad as the not qualifying for the World Cup make it seem. I don't get me wrong. I know it's horrible. And it's a complete nutter failure. I just think there's something there for someone specifically like Pep to come in and this Reclamation project. It's not complete rehab. By the way, when we're talking about Klopp, I think Klopp also has that same opportunity with a Germany team to kind of get them back. Now for, for a Pep and Italy, if it were to be in Italy or whoever comes in with Italy, it's literally just qualifying for them for a World Cup. And you've already done more than what's happened in the last three, three cycles. You know, when it comes to Klopp, you know, it's about winning the World Cup or at least getting a team where people believe that Germany is back in a place where they can win a World Cup. In the Euros, you mentioned that they won in the summer of 21 was under Roberto Mancinius. So we'll see if he can lead them to similar heights again. I do think Italy has a player problem. You know, there's a lot of focus on who the coach is going to be. But unless they get back to producing the Bajos and the Alpietos and Tauti's and Pirlos and Maldini's and Franco Barazzes, I don't know if they're going to get back to what they once were. Speaking of Barazzes, that was the sad news. He passed away at the age of 66 and I immediately thought of you because as a center back, moving to Italy in the mid 90s, I imagine he was the guy. I mean, you must have looked up to him. Yeah, I had watched him leading up to the World Cup in 94. You know, Bora, I'm going to talk a little bit about that lead up in my end of the show here. But I had watched Barazzes and Bora had made a point of having us watch, you know, I see Milan in that incredible defense. And, you know, the Maldini's and just just an incredible team built around an incredible defense. And he was undoubtedly the leader. And, you know, and then a couple years later, I'm stepping on the field against AC Milan. And there is there is brace and you know, he was not a big player. Wasn't physically imposing by angstretch, the imagination wasn't particularly fast. But if there ever was a cerebral player that combined it with maximizing his physical abilities that he had, it was him. I'll never forget. And this was, you know, back in back in the day before VAR and everything. And before assistant referees would keep their flags down. But as he was so good and so in tune with the players around him, that he could pull single handedly, all alone, an offside trap simply by looking down the line, signaling to his players. I'll never forget. At one point, we were playing on CC Milan and I had gone up top because we were losing and we were just kind of throwing caution to the wind. And a long ball came from the from our goalkeeper. And he had signaled saying silently to his back for nobody challenged it. Because he knew that if you challenged it in this moment when they were pulling an offside trap, you ran the risk of it flicking off or you actually actually winning it. And he wanted no risk in that he wanted me to win this ball. And so they pulled the trap relative to the ball. And they made sure that the flick on that was coming from me. There was nobody even close to me. And there was nobody to challenge me specifically because it was he didn't touch the ball. And yet he was orchestrating everything that was happening with the ball. And so just a wonderful player, a wonderful man. One of the first weeks that I was in Italy, I went on a national show with him. And it was the juxtaposition of this this incredible player. And you know, he was in his Milan suit and everything. And I think I had like a bandana and a leather jacket on and I was playing. And so he didn't know what to make of me there. But he was wonderfully kind and just, you know, an incredible lost gone way too early way too way too young. And so, you know, I think I like a lot of people thought about what he was. What he meant and how defenders and defenses back then were kind of revered in a way that we don't necessarily do today or don't have today. He had an interesting World Cup career. He was in the squad in 82, but didn't play Italy won that World Cup. And then he wasn't picked in 86, which is mind boggling. So he didn't actually play in a World Cup match until the age of 30 on home soil 1990 was sensational in that tournament, helping Italy finish third. And then he was the captain in 94 in the United States. He was got injured in the group stage against Norway. Look to be out of the tournament made this miraculous comeback in time to play in the final was brilliant for 120 minutes shut down Ramara and the Beto. But then missed a penalty in the shootout and obviously Brazil prevailed. So yeah, interesting huge loss huge loss. All right. We're too now my friend. All right. The other big thing going on right now is obviously the transfer market US players in the news. How about this PSG reportedly interested in forwarding ball again. He would be a replacement for Gonzalo Ramos who they sold to AC Milan. Monaco are asking for around 50 million euros. We'll see if the deal gets done. Bologna stock is sky high after the World Cup in which he scored three goals. And he scored 13 league on goals last season. PSG of late have been doing the bionic thing where they poached from their domestic rival. So this makes a lot of sense to me. I would be pretty neat if the starting US striker moves to the two time reigning European champions. Oh, I would love this. I would love to love it for him. I guess I'd love it for the for the US. It'd be just wonderful to see a player a US player again playing at a team where he is surrounded by elites. Now he's still got a play. But you know, when Christian, and I guess it would be Christian, we rarely have players playing at elite elite teams. And when it happens, I think it oftentimes can challenge the player, but I also think it can make that player look that much better. And I think whether you're PSG or anybody else, you're looking and you're saying, Jesus, you're saying, Jesus, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying, you're 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saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, they're saying, 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