00:00And first and foremost, I want to start off with Team USA.
00:03We bring Michelle Kaufman in.
00:05Michelle, let's start it here with Team USA and really the fallout here,
00:11what you've seen so far this past week.
00:13Just your takeaways on what you saw in the game
00:16and what you've seen with the fallout after the game.
00:21Well, first of all, hello.
00:24It's good to see you again.
00:27I'm thinking, let's see, what's happened since we lost?
00:29A lot happens in a week during the World Cup, right?
00:32It seems like the USA, you know, it seems like that was two weeks ago,
00:36but it wasn't.
00:38I think it's actually progress for American soccer
00:41that people are pissed, upset, and debating the U.S. team.
00:46Because in the past, I remember for most, I've covered seven World Cups.
00:52For most of the World Cups, the USA is just like, yay, rah, rah, USA.
00:58Way to go, boys.
00:59Way to go.
01:00You tried your best.
01:01You did your best.
01:02We're just not good enough.
01:04Oh, well, let's move on to the teams that really, you know,
01:07belong in the final eight.
01:09Now, I think, I don't think, I know,
01:13soccer in this country has evolved to the point where, first of all,
01:18the public is much more knowledgeable.
01:20I'll use you as an example.
01:22I don't know.
01:23You know, you probably were not talking about the World Cup with the passion
01:26and the knowledge that you do now four years ago or eight years ago or 12 years ago.
01:31So I think that in general, the American sports public has caught on in the sense
01:38that everyone knows a little bit more.
01:40And the more people know, the more opinions they have, you know.
01:44And this is a good thing.
01:45The fact that people are debating who should be the coach of the team.
01:49These are things that happen in other countries.
01:52These are things that were not happening really in the United States,
01:55except for the real diehard, you know, the American outlaws,
02:00those fans that are the diehards that have been there from day one, the OGs.
02:04The OGs have always been debating all of these issues.
02:07And is Pulisic really good?
02:09Is he soft?
02:10Was Landon Donovan that good or was he soft?
02:12Blah, blah, blah.
02:13These are things that people who are soccer people would debate.
02:17But the rest of the country was still totally obsessed with the NFL and the NBA
02:21and Major League Baseball and didn't have strong opinions
02:24about the U.S. team, barely knew the names of the players,
02:28probably didn't even know the name of the coach, a lot of people.
02:32Now, we've progressed to the point where American sports fans are invested
02:38in our national team and care.
02:40And they care, did Pulisic really, you know,
02:43is he the best leader for this team?
02:45Is he really that good or is he not?
02:47Is he committed or is he not committed enough?
02:50Is Pochettino, did he do a good job?
02:52Should he stay on as coach?
02:53Should they rehire him or should they get someone else?
02:57I think it's great that these debates are going on.
03:01As far as do I think they overperformed, underperformed,
03:05or did just about what was expected,
03:09I would say that they underperformed.
03:11I would have expected them to go one more round.
03:14You know, I think this team was good enough.
03:17If they played the way they played against Paraguay and earlier on,
03:22I think they were good enough to make the quarterfinals.
03:26I don't know that they would have gone beyond that.
03:28But I think they were good enough to match the 2002 team,
03:32which is the team that went to the quarterfinals.
03:33So I do think that they underperformed by one round.
03:39But I do think that they succeeded in the sense that they won over so many fans.
03:46And Pochettino did, too, with his love of America and country music
03:51and, you know, country roads, singing the songs and all that stuff.
03:55I think America really caught on to this team at a time that we needed something to unite us
04:00because there's so much division politically.
04:03I think that the U.S. team away from the field did a lot for soccer in America
04:08that will be beneficial going forward.
04:11But do I think that they are as good as the four teams that are in the semifinals?
04:16No, we're not there yet.
04:18We're not there yet.
04:20We still have a ways to go.
04:21But I think it's great that people are debating it
04:24and that people care enough about it.
04:26I think that's a great step forward.
Comments