World Cup Recap: Biggest Flops, Best Goals, FIFA Team Of The Tournament and Legends Saying Goodbye

Project 90 Soccer: Pronto. Marco, we are live. Welcome to another episode of the Project 90 Podcast. My name is Antonio, and I'm here with, as always, El Jefe in the Jamaica jersey, Marco Munoz. Marco, how you doing today, brother?

Marco: I'm doing great, baby. Ready to do this.

Project 90 Soccer: So I love to hear, man. Look, in honor of the World Cup, we've been talking about this. In honor of the World Cup ending, we thought we'd do a fun one today. Talk about some things here. I'm going to lay it out before we get into it. The end of an era, Marco. A lot of legends this tournament. We saw them in their last World Cup, possibly the last time in their international jersey. We're just going to touch on that, some of our favorite memories from them. We're going to go over the best 11 that FIFA put out. We're going to go over the players they picked, maybe throwing some notable mentions, kind of kind of shifted around a little bit. I think there's some players maybe that missed out on that. We'll go over, we'll go over that. Also, the biggest flop from this tournament, right? Some of these teams did not do as well as we thought. We'll go over that. Most shocking performance from an underdog who we thought wasn't going to do anything and ended up doing a lot. Okay, that's a fun one right there. And then we'll close it out, Marco. World Cup. Managers in, managers out, right? We saw a lot of managers resign, a lot of new ones coming in. We'll go over that. And then as a special way to end this episode, me and Marco actually went to the San Jose Earthquakes game last night, second half of the season starting. We saw them come up against Orlando City, and we saw a

Marco: Reason.

Project 90 Soccer: a very, very special player, Antoine Griezmann make his debut and Did not go well for San Jose earthquake. So stick around to the end. We'll go over that. But first, Marco, let's talk about this. This World Cup. 2026. Sounds like a crazy number to be saying. I started watching the World Cup in like 2002. It's the end of an era, man. Ronaldo, Modric, Memochoa, Messi, De Bruyne, a few others, right? It's kind of crazy. Remember when they all made their debuts, their first World Cups, and it's almost felt like for a while there we were just getting used to seeing them, but it's just ended as quick as it started, right? what memories do you have? Anything in particular of these players, any comments, any sort of things that stuck out maybe this tournament or in previous tournaments about these players?

Marco: Well, it's gonna be the end of an era for a lot of And for like Cristiano Ronaldo, Luca Modric, you know, Manuel Noor, potent potential

Project 90 Soccer: Yep, it's another one.

Marco: potentially messy, right? Potentially messy. I think when all these guys kicked off their World Cup journeys, I don't think we were thinking that they were gonna we're gonna be seeing these guys four or five World Cups in, right? Because

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: the processes, coaches like this, coaches like that. But man. These guys in particular, they were just able to sustain playing f football at at the highest level for club and country. And it's bittersweet to see them because I mean you would have wanted all of them to lift up the the trophy. Modric,

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: Modric and Ronaldo for me in particular, because

Project 90 Soccer: yeah.

Marco: we talk about a lot of golden generations, but we don't talk about the Croatian generation, golden generation, so-called golden generation that they had, right? They were

Project 90 Soccer: Right.

Marco: They were studs a couple of World Cups

Project 90 Soccer: They were, man.

Marco: ago. Consistently fighting for those top spots. So better sweets, end of Venera, you would have wanted them to win a chip. Or or just just just I don't know man, to see them up top as as number

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: ones. But for me, the guy that I'm gonna miss seeing is obviously my goats, my number one, Cristiano Ronaldo. So

Project 90 Soccer: Yes.

Marco: Yeah, man.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Ronaldo, man, that's a that's a big one. You know, never got the chance to play in a final, but you can't you can't deny that he made Portugal pretty much who they are, put them on the map in these past couple years. You know, in two thousand and I have it written down here, noted two thousand eighteen it was when he did it against Spain. He scored a hat trick in the group. And it's just moments like that where, you know, lifted the Euro Cup. Obviously it's not the World Cup, but won the Nations League, did a lot for his country, and he makes it known, right, in his interviews. He's like Portugal before Ronaldo had zero trophies, with Ronaldo they had three trophies. So it's a big deal, man. And there's obviously a huge debate. Messi, Ronaldo, both of them potentially. This is the last World Cup. Messi we're still haven't heard for sure, but for Ronaldo it is. either way though, man, they've they've just changed the game, right? I I think now in hindsight it's it's easier to say like how lucky we were to even see both of them at the same time, right?

Marco: Yeah, let's not forget Neymar, right? he's

Project 90 Soccer: Neymar as well, my God.

Marco: he's been on a uphill climb like the past five, six years, right? Injuries, he just can't get his stuff together. I mean, he what what do you say when you come limping into the season, you're gonna end up limping out of the season, right? And for him, that's what the tournament was. He came limping in, he limped his way out. So unfortunately for him as well. Such a superstar coming up. And the honorable mention, one and done, but of Ozinia, we're never gonna see this guy again.

Project 90 Soccer: I know.

Marco: So huge a legend in in the making in in one tournament, but yeah, a bunch of studs that we're no longer gonna see. But hopefully we see them working with with with with the national teams in the future.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. No Vozinha, man, that's a big one for real. Talk about taking taking the opportunity that you're given and really making the most of it, right? That entire team, right, which I'm sure we're gonna touch on here in a bit. Mudric, though, obviously made the final of the World Cup with Croatia. True underdog story that year. They were a great team. They just they fell a little bit short to France, but Luka Mudric, an absolute legend. And I think one that you remember well, Memo Choa played his sixth World Cup this year, right? Along with I believe it was Messi Ronaldo as well, six World Cups. And you can never, ever, ever, ever, I'll say it again, ever, ever forget that game against Brazil, I believe it was.

Marco: Brazil.

Project 90 Soccer: Right? The wall of Br whatever they called him. He had a nickname that game and it was absolutely deserved. The guy was a damn he was a fucking thirty-five foot wall, man, on an eight foot tall goal.

Marco: I didn't want to mention him, right? I didn't because I didn't want to be biased. So I'm glad you're you're giving my guy my guy some lights.

Project 90 Soccer: dude.

Marco: But in in in Mexico, we have this saying que me lo metan a mí y no choa. So what that means is you can score on you can score on me, but don't score on him, right? So yeah,

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, yeah, you can't.

Marco: man. in the Venera, definitely arguably one of the best goalkeepers Mexico has ever seen. didn't have the best stints in Europe. He is always playing for a bottom of the the table teams or mid level

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: teams. But the thing is he was always consistent and he always came through. So shout out to Guillermo, Memo, Ochoa. We're gonna miss you, big dog. And

Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.

Marco: on to better things.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, absolutely, man. Absolutely. I'm sure we're gonna see a lot of these guys in their national team setups, assisting coaching, probably as managers here in the future. but yeah, man, six World Cups for some of these guys. What an honor to watch them all play. It's definitely exciting. Okay, moving on, Marco. Look, FIFA team of the tournament. FIFA release their team of the tournament. And I'd say it's it's pretty spot on, right? But I think there could be a few notable mentions here. But first, let's just go over this. They gave out A 4-3-3 formation, right?

Marco: Yeah.

Project 90 Soccer: Their goalie, the one and only, the legend of this World Cup, Vozinha. Okay. Four defenders. Left back, Cucurea, Upa Mikano, center defense. Lisandro Martinez, Pedro Porro on the right. Okay. Center mids. Bellingham, Rudri, and Olisse. Salt. That's pretty strong. And then up top,

Marco: Yeah, it's pretty solid.

Project 90 Soccer: up top, we got on the left messi. Down the middle, Holland, and on the right, Mbappe. Okay. What are your thoughts on that, man? I see a few names, notable mentions I would say that maybe got left out. Maybe some changes I would make. I don't know. What do you think? Who do you think should have maybe made this?

Marco: Honestly, I'ma just give you the floor. I'm not really gonna argue this starting lineup. I mean, this starting lineup is is pretty strong. maybe,

Project 90 Soccer: It is.

Marco: maybe the goalkeeper, right? Vozinha. Yes, he had some solid performances. Yes, he he was outstanding for his team. But at the end of the day, I would have liked to go with the keeper that that that won the World Cup or

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: even give it to Debo Martinez, bro. You know what I mean?

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: He was outstanding in the final, eleven saves. Shout

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: out to Bozinha for what he did and he put his country on his back. But if I was to change someone, it'd be it'd be the goalkeeper.

Project 90 Soccer: Okay. No, I could see that and I thought the same. Unay Simon definitely. You can don't just keep keep seven clean sheets. Although you some would probably argue he had a good team in front of him, didn't have to do much, but when he did have to do something, he did it. Emmy Martinez, I mean, that was a massive final for him. Obviously didn't go good for Argentina, but that guy was you can call him a memochoa that game, you know what mean? When I look at this lineup, I think maybe a cubarsi, right? I think

Marco: yeah.

Project 90 Soccer: I think Kubarsi can maybe slide in there. Although Upa Mikano, the Sandro Martinez, again, they did well. They did solid, man.

Marco: Solid, solid.

Project 90 Soccer: In the center mid, I I love it. Olise Rodri Bellingham. The only person I'd maybe put as a substitute, you can call it. I'd throw in I don't know, man. Elliot Anderson for England did really good. when you think of just, you know, Enzo Fernandez did well this tournament, except for the final. That

Marco: Yeah.

Project 90 Soccer: was disaster. I know you're not a fan. but yeah, man, center mids. I think they pretty much nailed it with Bellingham, Rudry, and Elise, man. Up top, Messi, undeniable. Holland, come on. Mbappe, come on. He is the World Cup. You know what mean? Any substitutes up top? Let me think. Maybe a Zembele, hmm. I don't know if he had the best tournament. Lamine didn't have the best tournament, right? Ronaldo, I mean, did he have the best tournament?

Marco: Nah, I I I wouldn't put Ronaldo in. Let's put my boy Quiñones in there, baby. He was he was he was lights up

Project 90 Soccer: I I like that. Yeah.

Marco: for Mexico, man. Let's put my guy Quiñones in there. Maybe I'll just second second sub, not not the first one off the bench. I mean let's let's give my guy some some shine who came in as eighth best attacker in the f

Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm.

Marco: of the FIFA World Cup. So just to give my my Colombian duo national Mexican citizen

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: Julian Quiñones.

Project 90 Soccer: Would you say he was Mexico's MVP this tournament?

Marco: Make sure it's a VP.

Project 90 Soccer: Mexico's MVP. I love it. I love it. Yeah, man, this center mid though. Bellingham, Rodri Olysse, I mean, you bef as I close this out, you cannot you can't pick a better midfield than that, I don't think, to be completely honest. Okay, Marco, let's move on to something fun here, right? Goal of the tournament. There's a lot of goals, right? Whether it was a game they lost, a game they won, whatever it was, maybe the the meaning behind the goal, the magnitude of it. What do you have in mind for that? Goal of the tournament.

Marco: Goal of the tournament, and I did not want to butcher his name, so I'm gonna say it. Sydney

Project 90 Soccer: Do it. Butcher it.

Marco: Lopez Cabral. Golaso,

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: Golazo against Argentina.

Project 90 Soccer: Yep.

Marco: Man, my favorite goal. And a close second for me, a close second is Julian Alvarez is banger of a goal as well.

Project 90 Soccer: Yes. That was amazing that one too. But the one from Cape Verde, man, the fact

Marco: Yeah.

Project 90 Soccer: that they could even put goals up against Argentina and not only just a goal, I mean, that was an absolute screamer. I believe it was like two to one and they tied the game with that goal. So I mean,

Marco: Yep.

Project 90 Soccer: it was late in the game. I mean, crazy game to watch. That might have been one of the games of the tournaments, honestly, for me. another notable mention on my side was that third and fourth place game, dude, Bellingham. Picked up the ball.

Marco: I was here.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, picked up the ball at half. Took that shit all the way to the goal. Came in across, cut across, slotted it home for the sixth goal for England, which is a wild number. But yeah, man. Lot, a lot of goals. Remember Haiti had a great goal this tournament. Mbappe hit a banger or two in one of these games.

Marco: Also, honorable mention from my guy from Sweden, Yassin Ayari. He had a brace against Tunisia and both goals

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: were bangers.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Holland's second goal versus Brazil as well. When they knocked Brazil out, that was a good one as well. Wow, there's a lot, man. There's a lot to to remember on. And watching those, like trying to do research on it, man, you really rem like I forgot a lot of them. There's so many games. It's like you just forget. But I have to say, yeah, Capo Verde's goal against Argentina, I think, takes number one spot. Biggest

Marco: Without a doubt.

Project 90 Soccer: biggest flop. Biggest flop this tournament. Team that came in, absolutely had high hopes, just did not deliver whatsoever. What do you got?

Marco: So I have two things. I'm gonna give you the biggest

Project 90 Soccer: Okay.

Marco: flop in my opinion, because of the expectations

Project 90 Soccer: Okay.

Marco: and how they have performed the previous World Cup. And I'm gonna give you the biggest attacking flop. Which one do you want first?

Project 90 Soccer: I like this. Ooh, I want the attacking flop and then we'll do team.

Marco: Uruguay. They had nothing up top. Zero.

Project 90 Soccer: that's a good one.

Marco: Zero. Nothing. They couldn't get it going, right? Darwin, no matter who was up there. Bielsa, you're a smart guy. But those guys you had up there, man, they did you guys no justice.

Project 90 Soccer: Nine.

Marco: Uruguay, I'm sorry, didn't have the best World Cup. even Valverde, man, I don't know. He was off. Maybe he was tired from a long season with Real Madrid, but man,

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: they just did not have anything up top. So That's my attacking flop. And for my national team, I'm gonna go with Turkey A. Right. We

Project 90 Soccer: yeah.

Marco: definitely thought these guys were gonna get out the group, go deep in the knockout stages. they have just consistently they they've been playing together for a while, the the same group, and they have a young talent, right? In in Ardra. So I don't know, that was my biggest flop for me. What about you, Antho?

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah, just real quick on Turkey, man. That was a shock. Seeing Montella coach them, qualify for the World Cup after so many years. Arta Gouler, Yildez, Shalonaglu, it's like they really under delivered big time. Like they even make it out of the group. but yeah, for me, man, when I think of like biggest flop, not necessarily as they were like a tournament favorite to win, but In general, I'd have to I I forgot about Uruguay. I'm glad you brought them up because I'd say that was a pretty massive flop in in every single sense of the word. but for me I think Germany was terrible, round of thirty two. I mean, they lost Leonard Carl right before the World Cup started, big player for Bayern, young kids. But I'm

Marco: The last tournament they also got eliminated early on.

Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm. It's it's just not expected, man. Germany's usually one of those teams that makes it to like at least the quarters, like really puts up a fight, but they just man, they lost to Paraguay on penalties, man. So I mean, talk about a disappointing tournament for Germany. one when we go now next we're gonna go over some managers. We saw Nagelsmann leave. We'll get to that. But also Brazil, man. I know they weren't favorites. This isn't like Two thousand two Brazil. This isn't any special Brazil necessarily, but Brazil, man, is Brazil. You know, they have an absolute squad. They left Jao Pedro at home. They made some questionable decisions. Ancelotti did and ended up falling to Norway, right? Who was the better team that day? Fair like fair and square. So yeah, I think Brazil definitely was one of the biggest flops this tournament. Germany. who what do you got?

Marco: Portugal. Let's not forget about Portugal. Nothing but

Project 90 Soccer: Portugal, yes.

Marco: but all-stars on the team. Vitinha, John Neves, Fernandez, right? and Ronaldo up top. Right. They just, I

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: don't know, man. a lot of the games that they won weren't spectacular either. They were barely winning those games.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: so that's another that's another flop that we can throw in there because of the talent that they were carrying into the World Cup.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. B I mean, arguably the best midfield in the world, everyone's saying, right? And I mean, justifiably so, right? Like they have literally have Vitina, Jao Neves, Bruno Fernandez, best player in the Premier League, two Champions League winners with PSG. Their defense too is like solid, man. You know what I mean? They have Ruben down Diaz, they have Nuno Mendez,

Marco: Yeah,

Project 90 Soccer: Vie I mean, they have a solid squad, bro. They have Zhao Cancelo, Zhao Felix, all these guys. Ronaldo, they have Layao.

Marco: And coming and and coming yeah, I was gonna say coming off the bench, Lao, Ramos. But

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: I don't know if much more you wanna touch in on the biggest flops of teams, but I think now that we're talking about Segway, we have a perfect opportunity to segue, I'm sorry, segue

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: into the biggest flop in the coaches. And I think Portugal

Project 90 Soccer: yeah.

Marco: port and I think Portugal has one, bro.

Project 90 Soccer: You think they had one? Or do you know they had one?

Marco: One hundred percent no they had one.

Project 90 Soccer: They had one, man. Roberto Martinez. What is this guy's problem, bro? He's killing Belgium. He killed Portugal. And he just leaves. Head held high out. Just didn't work out. Going to get another job. Make another bag and ruin another team, man. What was he doing, man? What is that guy? Why do people hire him? Why do you think people even hire that guy anymore?

Marco: I don't know, man. But at club level maybe. but we can't we can't live in the past. We need to get

Project 90 Soccer: No.

Marco: results now. But I don't know. Maybe

Project 90 Soccer: He's out.

Marco: they maybe they just thought it it just didn't work out with Belgium and it would work over here with Portugal, but unfortunately

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Didn't

Marco: it didn't. And I think he was we've had this conversation, he was afraid to make certain adjustments, certain substitutions when they were needed because of the big

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: names Ronaldo on the pitch, right? So

Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Marco: If you're unable to make those calls, then what are you doing in the World Cup in charge of a nation?

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, especially a big one like that, man. You gotta you gotta have you gotta have the the the skill, I guess, as a manager to just pull the trigger when you need to. If it's Ronaldo, if it's it doesn't matter who it is, man. Your team needs to win. There's no time. This isn't a thirty-eight week season. Like this is like win or go home. But yeah, man, Roberto Martinez out. No new names up for Portugal yet. Zlat Kodalic for Croatia. Truly, Mudric is out. It's the end of a generation, end of a run for real. He's out. Scaloni stepping down when his contract runs out in January for Argentina. Obviously Messi retires. I think Argentina's gonna look completely different. So we'll see what happens there with them. Nagglesman for Germany, right? We saw him step down. I I think that was the right move. But we see Jurgen Klopp coming in, which is I think a bit of an upgrade. I think. What do you think? Yeah.

Marco: Huge upgrade. And I think Portugal does have a coach already.

Project 90 Soccer: Who'd they get?

Marco: I don't know him on the top of my mind. but

Project 90 Soccer: Okay.

Marco: he was he previously used to coach El Nasar with with Ronaldo on the squad in in in the Saudi league. So Yep. Yeah, yep, yep.

Project 90 Soccer: I think it's that Portuguese guy with the long hair, the saucy white hair. What is that guy's name, dude? White

Marco: Mr. Whitehair.

Project 90 Soccer: White haired Portuguese coach. Watch this Google search right here. It's gonna yield results, I can guarantee it. Right here in three, two I mean, look at that. Jorge Jesus.

Marco: Okay, hey, Suze, two first names. Let's go.

Project 90 Soccer: That's that's the two first names, dude. So we'll see what that guy can do. Hopefully I think he'll probably be better than Roberto Martinez. So yeah, man. Jurgen Klopp, massive signing. I think he's gonna do well with Germany. He's a he's a players coach. I think he has a good relationship with the players. He's one of those guys, knows how to get the most out of them. Bielsa, I mean, I don't think we need to were very shocked with that, right? That was a a failure in

Marco: I

Project 90 Soccer: every sense.

Marco: I don't think any other nation should experiment with Bielsa. Like that's old school. It used to work. It no longer works. That

Project 90 Soccer: Uh-huh.

Marco: hardcore coaching style, you do what I tell you, I'm not gonna listen to what how you're feeling. I mean, even I don't know if you hear heard the leaks during the tournament that the Uruguay players were had sat down and were complaining, like, Hey, we're training way too hard for

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, man.

Marco: for this tournament. So that old school mentality I don't think works anymore. especially with how young the game is getting.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: young younger and younger players. I mean, look at France, I mean look at Gilmora, Al Al Dragouler, you know, the the kid from Morocco, Kubarsi,

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Marco: right? All these kids. That old school mentality is not gonna work with these guys. You're gonna you're gonna

Project 90 Soccer: Doesn't work, dude.

Marco: break before you can you can make into something.

Project 90 Soccer: It doesn't work, man. And there's a there was like that whole transition period where social media phones kinda blew up. And I think some of these older coaches kind of struggled with sort of adapting to the new age and their sort of you can call them rules or strict rules in the locker room don't sit well with these guys, man. And that's sort of, you know, you sort of gotta be homies with the players in a sense, right? And I think that's kind of what works these days. have a clear line of I'm the manager, you're the player, but also you gotta be chill with the guys, man. You're looking at Lamine and these guys are 19 years old, right? It's not like 1990 anymore where it's you're the young guy in the locker room, you put your head down and get to work and you listen, you do what everyone says. Nowadays it's kind of softened a little bit maybe in that sense, but Bielsa is not the guy for anybody at this point, I don't think. But with him going out, we see Diego Forlan, right? A legend

Marco: Yep.

Project 90 Soccer: for Uruguay, he's the U20 coach. He's stepping in as The interim manager. And you know, you see this happen sometimes where interim managers come in and they kinda end up doing like really well actually. So I think I could see this maybe moving into a a full time position, possibly. I don't know. That'd be kind of cool to see. I mean, I remember

Marco: As long as long as as long as they have the patience. As long as they have the patience.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, dude, you can't you can't force her you can't expect it and you know go win the Copa America in two years or anything. You gotta give this guy some time. but man, what a legend from two thousand ten. Let's just take it back real quick. Diego Forlon, what a beast, man. That Suarez Cavani. That team, that was the Uruguay. I remember that's Uruguay, in my opinion. and then right here we saw Belgium, Rudy Garcia, right? Another old school style of coach. didn't work out. Belgium, right? They're golden generations. De Bruyne is out. I think Lukaku's probably out. it's time for, you know, a revamp and how they do things and the squad and everything. but we see Mark Van Baumel, Dutch legend, Bayern Munich, AC Milan coming in. I don't know what his coaching experience is like, you know, but obviously for a team like like Belgium to look at Van Baummel and think, okay, you're the guy. They obviously saw something in him. So I think that's a pretty interesting hire.

Marco: Well well, you know what? Defensive players end up being offensive coaches and vice versa. So we'll see. but let's not for

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. That's a good point.

Marco: let's let's also not forget about France. The champs is out and word on the

Project 90 Soccer: yeah.

Marco: street is Zidane is gonna take over the reigns until twenty thirty. So that's that's an interesting one. But

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: you you say you've said it best, Sedan has came in to some great teams around Madrid. So this

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: time we'll be able to see. I mean, he does have a lot of great athletes, but we'll be able to see if he's

Project 90 Soccer: Right.

Marco: able to mold something and to carry into the next World Cup.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, that's I was just gonna say that Zidan's picked up he picked up a amazing Real Madrid team. He won three Champions Leagues with them. I mean, you know, France is obviously a star studded squad, so I mean you're coming into another good team. We'll see if you could do the same thing with France and now moving into the Euros probably the next World Cup. We'll see what they can do. And then notable mention for managers, knowing that I am the biggest Italy fan you know. There's been rumors around town, Italy's looking for a coach. They came in contact with Ancelotti recently, Pierlo, but a big name, man. Pep Guardiola, right? What an amazing coach that would be. I was telling you yesterday, I'm a big fan of national teams hiring the same nationality of coach. And I'm all for it. But since those aren't the rules, I'd be pretty happy with a guy like Pep Guardiola. I think he's asking for too much money, though. They're not going to want to pay it. Still up in the air, but I thought that was a good notable mention because I want to see.

Marco: Pay the man what he wants. Pay him.

Project 90 Soccer: They need to, man. It's it's now or never. You don't do it's been three World Cups now. It's been th you don't got this is crazy, man.

Marco: No more no more not qualifying. Any it needs to stop.

Project 90 Soccer: How do you have four stars on your jersey and you don't even show up for sixteen years? This is crazy, man. I'm like I don't even know where to start with a delete. That's a whole nother discussion for a different episode. But yay. News is develop it's a developing story. We'll touch on it in the future when we get some news for that. Yeah.

Marco: But but real quick, I would not be upset if Ancelotti's able to get out of his contract with Brazil 'cause he had signed an extension and he

Project 90 Soccer: Yes. Yes.

Marco: ends up finally coaching Lazzura, right?

Project 90 Soccer: Where he should have been. It's where he should have been the whole time. Yeah.

Marco: So I would like I would like to see that. I think he's he's I think he knows how to manage players versus the the talent, right?

Project 90 Soccer: Yes.

Marco: just like quick segue, Phil Jackson with Dennis Rodman. Dennis Rodman was a loose cannon, right? But

Project 90 Soccer: Right.

Marco: he's one of those guys that you just gotta let him go do his own thing, let him go to Vegas, he'll come back and he'll be here for the game. And I think

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: that's what Charotte knows how to do. He did it well with the superstars everywhere he's been.

Project 90 Soccer: Yep.

Marco: so he's been at the biggest clubs except for Everton. Sorry, my Everton peeps. Love you guys.

Project 90 Soccer: That's a fact though. Yeah.

Marco: But it didn't work out over there, and then he came back to Real Madrid and he won another Champions League.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, no, Ancelotti's he's arguably the GOAT right now when it comes to managers, right? Of all time. He's really good at just letting players express themselves, not trying to change how they play and let them just play to their strengths. And I think that's ultimately what a good manager does. You can't change a player. If they play a certain way, you gotta let them do that. You just gotta put the team together in a way where you get the most out of them, right? So yeah, if they get him, if Italy picks him up, I'd be I'd be pretty fucking stoked about that too. But yeah, man, a little fun one here, right? Talking about the World Cup. Another World Cup ended 2026, four more years. We got the Euros coming up, got a lot coming up. But now we want to dive into, you know, Premier League, La Liga. All these leagues are heating up, getting ready. But yesterday, MLS, the second half of the MLS season has started, right? Earthquakes were on were on a winning streak, undefeated streak. They were killing it, man. We go to yesterday, we see San Jose Earthquakes versus Orlando City, Antoine Griezmann French legend, Barcelona, Athletico Madrid. Come in there, Orlando City stomped him out four to zero, man. Four to zero, Marco. Now, the people don't know this. We know this. Look, I've been to 10, 15 games in my life, earthquakes. I have yet to see them win a single game. Okay. They were on a winning streak. Me and Marco were like, yeah, bro, we should go to a game. They're starting, they're doing well. Stadium looks full. Soon as we start going, look what's going on. Look what's going on. So I don't know if it's me. I I don't want to believe it is, but I'm gonna stop going to games for this next month or two and we're gonna see if the script gets flipped. But yeah, man, overall earthquakes, they lose four to zero. I mean, what do you what did you see yesterday at that game? What what it just did not look like a good team performance at all. It's flat out. Yeah.

Marco: I did I did I didn't see a whole lot. they were red hot going into the World Cup break and I I just think the break was too long, right?

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: It's like sizzling a nice steak, you reverse eared it, you take it out, you throw some butter on top, let it sit for five minutes, you cut into it. Well the steak never got cut into. It just sat there. It just sat

Project 90 Soccer: God. Tell

Marco: there, it just sat there. And look what happened, man. They just did not have a whole lot going on. I wanted to see Vieira get a little bit more involved, but

Project 90 Soccer: Yes.

Marco: I don't know. The Quakes just weren't playing the ball through the middle. You can

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: see Timo Werner getting frustrated.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: But you made a good point yesterday. He was more so expecting expecting the bar versus creating chances and opportunities like Griezmann was on his first

Project 90 Soccer: Right.

Marco: official game with Orlando City. He was all over the place. He got on the scoring sheet. I don't know. Maybe it's Orlando City getting punt because Antoine Griezmann is on the squad and they go into San Jose, PayPal Park on a nice windy night. And they beat the Quakes 4-0 and they're on a high. And then later on in a couple weeks, we're gonna see who the real Orlando City is, is that they're really bottom of the table team. And hopefully

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah.

Marco: this is a hopefully this is a reset for the Quakes. It's a gut check and scratch

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: it. I'd rather have this loss early in the season versus later on. So let's take the L and move on to next week.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, I agree, man. I agree. They weren't they weren't there last night, Earthquakes, man. Terrible. People were leaving before the game even ended. Right. It was one of those games. Boluru, Timo Werner. Yeah, Marco's one of I was one of Boluru, Timo Werner, Ronald Vieira, Buddha. Obviously, Shakiris has been out with injury. Preston Judd was not firing. You know, they they they have they have a good team. You can see that they do play well when they play well, but Bruce Arena is probably pretty pissed about the performance. Whether he goes into the press conference, it doesn't seem like it. That was unacceptable last night. So going forward, look, we're gonna see how the rest of the season goes. I'm excited to follow along. Angus gun. Angus gun. Yeah.

Marco: Let's not forget about the goalie. Let's not forget about the goalie, the World Cup goalie from Scotland. Let Anto give it to him.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, everybody is thinking the same thing right now. Why did we get rid of Daniel? Established player, did so well with the earthquakes, right? We thought he was the number one, got sold to Dallas. Like, I don't know why. I don't know why these MLS teams do this, man. They get their best player and they just ship them off. Christian Espinoza. They just forgot to extend his contract or whatever they did. I mean,

Marco: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Project 90 Soccer: and they bring in Angus Gunn on paper, looks great. Scottish goalkeeper, number one, played at the World Cup, so on and so forth. Yesterday it looked like it looked like a Sunday League goalkeeper out there on I mean it was terrible performance, bro. So I mean look, I was looking online, everyone's saying the same shit. Why do we get rid of Daniel? Like I know this is Gunn's first game. Hopefully he gets his shit together, right? He's a professional, obviously. He's a world class goalkeeper, played in the World Cup. I get it. But dude, you cannot do that. You cannot play like that, right? So I'll be the first to say on behalf of all Earthquakes fans, I miss Daniel. The guy said what's up to me when we were when we were like field side. I waved it at him. He said, What's up, dude? Like he was cool. Had a great game that day. So I don't know why you get rid of such a club legend, right? I don't understand. But look, man, moving forward, we're going to touch on that some more. We're going to follow on the earthquakes. We're going to touch on some of the transfer rumors leading up to La Liga, Premier League, Setia. And we're going to throw in some. Sprinkle in some fun episodes until those leagues sort of get started, man. But we just wanted to come on here, throw up a little fun World Cup episode now that it's finished. if you enjoyed this episode, if you enjoyed listening to this podcast, if you made it here to the end, we appreciate it. Go to Project90Soccer.com. You can find all of our links, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. we really appreciate all the support. Leave a comment, like, do your thing. and yeah, man, another episode of Project Ninety. Marco, any last words?

Marco: Peace.

Project 90 Soccer: Peace.