Welcome To Miami

The Tartan Army have left Boston and are heading to Miami for the third group game of the 2026 World Cup. 

And the squad will follow on as they prepare to take on Brazil in the do-or-die clash on Wednesday.

Andrew Slaven and Laura Brannan look back on the defeat to Morocco, Scotland's chances against the former world champions and whether a defeat could still see them progress. 

Should John McGinn have had a penalty? Should Scott McTominay? And are the Boston locals in for a shock when the English take our place?

And elsewhere in the World Cup, we look back on some of the best and worst bits so far, including the Czech flag incident, the first red card for covering your mouth and is it ok to be sensitive in flash interviews?

00:00: Intro
01:24: Defeat to Morocco 
05:12: The best of the non tartan bits of the World Cup
13:00: Boston love us
19:24: Brazil preview
22:48: Steve Clarke's post match interview

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Scottish Football Show. Here is what's coming up. Time to be Brazilian. But does Steve Clark need to make changes? Break yourself, Boston, the English are coming! And will three points be enough in the end? Joining me, TNT Sports Senior Producer, Laura Brannon. And if I sound miserable, it's not just the Moroccan defeat. It's because I'm battling gastroenteritis.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

No, I'm still feeling sorry for myself after Saturday night.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

It was tough actually. I mean, one thing was I was supposed to go out for it. That's two nights ruined. For reasons I won't go into. But I enjoyed like a curry and had a few beers before the game and I was really looking forward to it. And then we get we get beat and then I wake up the next day and I feel even more humped than I was during the game. And the thing was, Laura, I mean, we'll get into the game, but the second half gave me a lot of hope. I know we didn't have any clear chances on goal, but I felt like we actually turned up and were competitive, which was decent, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Exactly. And I feel like we talk about this so much with um Scotland in recent years. When it doesn't start well, we always finish strongly. And you're like, why can't the game just last another 10-15 minutes? Can we just erase the whole first half, start it at halftime, and then we actually I I genuinely think if we played 10 more minutes, we'd have got to go.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Yeah, oh 100%. I'd no doubt. Because the thing is, the the referee was an absolute donkey. You know what I mean? I just infuriates me that you know you hear some people come out and say, like, oh, it was like old school referee, and it was like refereeing from the early 2000s and stuff like that. So I but that's not that's not how it is now. We'll all we've all became accustomed to very clear penalties that happened in this game. Uh I used penalties uh maybe penalty.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Do you genuinely think that we should have had a penalty?

SPEAKER_01 2:31

The McGinn one I can I can see there's more reason to give it than not give it. The reason was it was because or the referee told um John McGinn after the game that it was because the ball was going out of play. Do you do you think that's a reasonable excuse to not get if you get clattered and the ball is running away from you? That's not good enough. That's not good enough, is it? Like it's just it's just ridiculous. But you don't you think it's soft then? I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

I don't I don't think we should have had any penalty. I I don't I I think having seen Scotland denied stonewallers in the past and never getting over them. I just don't think these two were part of in that group, in that ballpark. I think if they'd been given against us, we'd have been raging, and you need to think of it that way. I just don't think I think I think at this stage people are grasping for something to take their frustration and their heart out on, and they're either targeting Steve Clark out of anger or they're targeting the ref by saying your shit. And I don't actually think either of them are to blame here. I just think it was one of these really unfortunate games, kind of like the Hungry Game in O 2024, where it was just we just didn't do enough, and it was just really frustrating because it was tight for the whole match.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Oh the first half I thought Morocco were unbelievable.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

After 70 seconds, I thought they were just back and forgotten.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Yeah, that was just it was just like the one thing you don't do and you don't take a risk like that. I was so I was annoyed for Hanley because he's a good than free boy. But I mean, come on, I felt like he got it was his fault. It was his fault.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

See when you spend a week building up to a match and all day, because it's an 11 o'clock kickoff, so you spend the entire day listening to the tunes, getting on out, seeing all your mates, you're you're in proper match mode from like lunchtime at the early at the latest, and then after that, it's like one minute into the game, you've barely even sat in your seat and you're going, wait a minute, what you doing?

SPEAKER_01 4:40

And that's that's that's why that's why I've got to be kind of positive with the fact that it probably could have been 4-0 at halftime, but it wasn't, and it wasn't because we didn't allow them to do it, and yeah, they had chances and they look they did look so good on the ball and their movement, and they counter-oppressed us like really, really interestingly, not interestingly, really well. Um but we could go into the game in detail, but let's not do it because we should just look forward. But before we do that, Laura, um have you seen anything else in the World Cup that you've enjoyed?

SPEAKER_00 5:15

I've in general I kind of said this last week because I'm I'm home now from Boston, I was looking forward to just watching the World Cup, and it's actually been really good. I've had a week off work, I've sat on the couch, I've watched all kinds of kickoffs. Um it's been great. I was uh watching the three, was it the 3am game between uh oh I can't remember who it was now, it was like Ecuador and Iran or something, I don't know. Um but I I can I've I'd fallen asleep, woke up during the game, and Leo McLeod and James McFadden were doing a commentary from a for a 3am game from Mexico that had nothing to do with Scotland, and I'm just sort of like in a haze going, what, what, what's going on here? I don't don't understand. And I woke up in some fever dream here. Um bloody love the World Cup, just lying on the couch, drifting off to games and waking up again to different fixtures and everything.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

I know it is it is class for that reason. The kickoff times are brutal, but it's quite exciting staying up and watching these games and seeing teams that you never normally see. There's plenty more of them than you normally wouldn't see uh because of the expanded World Cup.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Did you see the the the guy, one of the volunteers that got stuck under the Czech flag?

SPEAKER_01 6:26

No, but I saw the link. I know. I do know what the way that it's set up, it's probably like it was always going to happen. There was always going to be someone. Poor guy. Did he get everything?

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Absolutely. This I don't know. I rumor has it, he's still tangled in there somewhere. Wrapped up in the Czech flag. It's absolutely the sort of thing I would it's happened to me if I was a volunteer.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

And did you see that we had our first red card as well for a player covering their mouth? So there's loads of new rules for this World Cup, but Almiron got sent off for covering his mouth. Clearly didn't pay attention to the rules.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

It's harsh, isn't it? I like it. I I honestly I like it. I what I really liked was the ref coming out to explain it because now they're mic'd up to the whole stadium. He was the angriest man ever. Giving his explanation. He's like, Why are you so aggressive? He's so angry. This player has covered his mouth. If all of it are like that, I'm all for the mic'ed up and the explain it to the stadium. I'm all for that.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

I do know what you are a stickler for a root for the rules. So I'd imagine you probably would have loved that. And I am too, by the way. And you should be annoyed because the rules are the rules. Just like why we should have had a fucking penalty. Um, but there you go. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Um I've got a lot of respect for the fans now booming the hydration breaks as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yes, because we know what it's for, don't we? I saw a really funny thing where um I can't remember who the um Instagram account was, but it was a female comedian uh talking about the Fox buying the the exclusive rights of to the World Cup in America. So they're like the hosts, um, well, obviously the HBS, who are like the kind of production partner, right? And then so essentially they were just like, oh, we'll buy it for like 500 million or half a billion, right? They're like, okay, yeah, sure, no problem. Cool. So what's it? Is it like quarters or is it you know um every ten every a break every 10 minutes or sort of thing? Is it no no no 45 minutes? Each it's halves. Oh, what halves? Wait a minute, no, no, no, we'll just take our money back. Whoa, whoa, whoa, we can have hydration breaks. And it was just like that, that's kind of I can imagine that being the conversation. Won't turn down that money.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

I like I'm not I'm not against having a break because I mean I I pee a lot, so it's good for toilet breaks and also it's great for getting a drink ourselves, our own hydration breaks. So from the fans' perspective, it's not actually the worst, but I've been noticing though that I'm more and more talking about the momentum shift for teams after the break has happened, so you're more likely to or less likely to see a goal depending on like if a team has got the momentum, they go into this break, the other team have got a chance to regroup, and I don't think that's fair. That there's there's been chat of well, okay, we'll have the hydration break, but the manager and or the coaches shouldn't be allowed near the players, so it should be water bottles that are another part of the pitch. Set up the water bottles fine, but it's not a chance to regroup, it's not a half-time break, it's not a quarter time break. And I think that's the fairest way to do it if we're gonna have to stick with this, which we are that's not changing, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Well, it's not changing because if I'm led to believe correctly, they they have to do it for all the group games because they started with it. So if they if they changed that rule now, it would then feel like it was an unfair advantage after like the first round, sort of thing. That's interesting. So they kind of have to keep it in, um, which makes sense, but it's still because you know it's not roasting everywhere, it's hot. But do you know what I mean? Like at 60 one minute you can take a break for a bit of water.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

They are saying that though, that that a lot of the games you don't need a break. That it's normal temperatures the players are playing in.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

I I think it's like yeah, three is it yeah, so like standard advertising break duration. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

I mean, I think they fit in five adverts to it. I I've I've noticed though that ITV aren't doing an ad break. So our coverage done we're not getting an ad break at all, but it's the American one, obviously, been out there seeing Fox, they're fitting five adverts during that time.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Yes, and uh did you I don't know if you saw the ITV's coverage with Emma Hayes um covering the hydration breaks with really good analysis, like I'm like so good. Emma Hayes is amazing, she's a great pundit, she's a really good co-commentator, co-commentator, sorry, and an outstanding manager, of course, with Chelsea, and now the you know uh American women's manager. So I just I just think it was such an on-goal for my TV. Did you see? I don't know if you saw it, Laura, but yeah, but in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

I know it's not literally a kitchen, but that's what everyone's saying. They're making these jokes about the set looking like a kitchen so unfair. It's honestly like, why did they do that? They had such a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

As soon as I saw it, as soon as I saw it, and I and I'm a live TV producer, I was like, oh no, oh no. But apparently nobody saw it. Apparently, nobody made the connection. So I was like, I wonder now, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

I wonder now, are they better not changing it? Are they better sticking with it out of principle, or should they have responded to everyone talking about it, laughing about it?

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Nah, nah, they should stick with it because what Emma Hayes does is actually really good. Yeah, like it's a really it's a really good way to cover the hydration breaks using your uh your your press area um back at and and Emma Hayes is so good at it. What they should do though is stop doing it with Emma Hayes and doing it with others, not just make it Emma Hayes, you know what I mean? And that I've only seen it with Emma Hayes, and I need to stop saying Emma Hayes, uh but there you go. I just thought it was a bit of a they either need to dress that set differently. The whole set is amazing where they are positioned, it's way better than the BBC's.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Um, but hey ho, that's also with them getting Gary Lineker on as well. They've That was great, they have trumped BBC on this, haven't they?

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Oh, it was awesome, and I love the fact that they made time sort of do a piece to camera, and then Laura Woods was just like, Well, whoa, well, hold on. That's so much fun. Like, yeah. But for for every for every hiccup, there's an absolute gem.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

They've done very well to be fair.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

I was gonna I was gonna move on to uh kind of talk about Boston, Laura, as someone who's experienced it and stuff like that. Um, and the fact that you've left and now all of us are leaving Boston. Like, how are they like we've obviously been heralded by um politicians, we've had Haggis legalized, we've you know had the CEO of the Red Sox um post messages and send messages to like the SFA guys, Mulraine and Cole. So but now the English are coming, Laura.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

The Boston locals are in for a shock, by the way, because it's gonna be very different this coming week.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

And some Americans have already witnessed that, right? We've seen some videos that don't look great.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

I mean were they fighting with each other already after the first game? They won their first game and they're fighting already in the streets. Why exactly? All all the only videos I've seen are either them fighting each other or them singing about Scotland. It's kind of strange, I think.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Yeah, and that's why I kind of don't want to spend too much I don't want to spend too much time on it, but I mean we've we've bigged it up, we've given the UK a good name, and most of all Scotland, and that's really what all I care about to be honest. But if they go over there and just ruin it, then just kick them out of the next World Cup.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

So we've we've left with a remarkable r reputation. Um as you say, yeah, so a letter from the Red Sox CEO praising the Fenway, the game at Fenway Park, the the letter in in the newspaper as well, the they've the Glass Haggis, man. I don't know the extent of what that how much tokenism that actually is. Um but it's just the the general everyone of I've seen videos, so many videos, just everyone's saying, please don't leave, please come back, can we make this an annual thing? Which is exactly what we saw last year, sorry, two years ago, with Cologne. They absolutely adored us, and we still see like Cologne tartan army groups and and uh locals that follow us and take an interest in us and everything. So it's it's great that we're doing it again. Um, and I have no doubt that the the fans moving on to Miami will carry this on, continue putting cones on every statue head, continue to drink the city dry. Um, I did like the fact that the um the Delta flight from Boston to Miami brought out they wheeled out, I don't know if you saw this, they wheeled out a little trolley before everyone got on the plane, and it was covered in football balloons and cupcakes that were all uh Scotland themed and some drinks for people and some snacks for folk to take, which I just thought was a nice touch before they got on the plane. And I think the woman that was working for them was also decked out in tartan as well, taking the the boredom passes and stuff. They've absolutely embraced us, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

We've brought the world cup, we've got the world cup because I remember there being talk of like loads of people not really knowing there was a world cup on, and then it was like, Who that who are these guys?

SPEAKER_00 16:02

So it's totally I've seen people saying like Boston's quite a sleepy town. Um, I mean, I've been twice now. Um it's so good. I love Boston, I've not seen it quite as being a sleepy town exactly. But um, if we've brought the life and soul, it's a great legacy to have.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

It's a great city, and what what what are we going to do in Miami? Because I've been to Miami a few times.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Absolutely frazzle because it's so warm.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

It's so warm, but it's not just um like I I did the I did the Copa America final at the um the Hard Rock Stadium, and Miami is a place where you could you could iron your shirt nice and crisp, but as soon as you leave your hotel, it just it's just damp. It just sticks to you. And a lot of people in football shirts, it's gonna be like wearing a plastic bag. It's gonna be brutal. Yeah, it's so humid. I've never I've never felt warm rain before. I remember I was the only one outside, like running around in the rain at the OB truck, and everyone's like, What's that guy doing? And I was like, Warm rain! It's warm rain. Scottish people have never experienced this before. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

The humidity in Boston, I think, was what killed me. Um spent well, I'd spent like a couple weeks obviously the West Coast before part of my trip, and it was lovely and warm and sunny, but it was a comfortable warm. It was a it wasn't a dry, humid warm. It was the sort you actually enjoy being out in and being like, yeah, I can live in this, I can actually, I can function, and my brain is working in this heat. Whereas you go to the east coast and suddenly it's like, no, my brain is not working. I I'm I'm dying. Everything is just I'm a mace, I'm a sweaty mess. Nobody needs to see me right now. And Miami just sounds like it's even worse. Although, to be fair, we're stuck in London this week and the temperatures are a joke. So we're we're suffering the same torture, only we're not part of the party. So it's double torture.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

One one thing that I can't confirm this 100%, but for that, um for the because I produced the opening of the Club World Cup last June, and uh probably this time last year, and after the Copa America final, when there was loads of um uh Colombian fans like literally walking through the air vents because they didn't have tickets, like it was my it was like John McLean, it was ridiculous. Um that security is was like so much more to the point where I think my taxi couldn't take me to the hard rock any closer than two miles out, so I had to walk two miles in heat uh to get to the ground. It was brutal and a little bit confusing, but I'm sure the they they should probably block the roads out for the tartan army, it'll be a really cool site and the F1 tracks there, which is kind of cool. Fair enough, fair enough, and there's great bars, the food's amazing, oh Cuban sandwiches, wings, wings, wings, and plenty. Do you know what? Not as many wings because there's loads of different cultures in in Miami, like Cuban, obviously, loads of South Americans um living down there. It's it's a pretty cool place, but it's so fing hot. Um let's talk about the Brazil game then. Um does Clark need to make changes? I don't think he will, Laura. I think he's gonna stick to the same team because he's so stubborn, uh and he's got us to where we've got, and maybe he doesn't need to change, but it feels like we are so one-dimensional when we only have Shea Adams up front. And I hate to admit that, Laura, the changes he made in the second half, Kenny McLean Lindendike's made a difference.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Well, you weren't saying that on the night, Andrew.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

I wasn't saying that on the night.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

I like how in the cold light of day you finally realize that the subs actually made a difference. They don't always, but you seem to think they do. I was actually really relieved to see Patterson in for Hickey. I thought that was uh a good change. Not fully convinced that it was successful, uh, but it was the right thinking, I think, going into it. The change of shape was interesting. The whole like bringing Robertson and Patterson more wide, bringing it with kind of more of a kind of three and a five, and um playing a bit more with tyranny and stuff. I it was different. We've not ex we've not experimented enough. We've we've perfected 4-4-2 so much in recent games that that was more of a a left field training ground decision. Um I don't know if we're gonna go the same against Brazil. Um I think we are the stature of the team is very similar in terms of how good they are, um, and needing a similar result as well. That I can't see much changing, to be honest. But yeah, I think so many people are just gonna be calling for like Ben Ganondoke to start because of the difference he very clearly makes. I understand why he was dropped because he doesn't quite fit into that system, and Clark did what he changed his shape, so it makes complete sense, but it's just the same old story of we're dropping some of our best players to play a different shape, it's not working as soon as he comes in. Oh, look at that, it's working again. So I don't know if the same cycle, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

I don't know if his tactic was sort of to kind of just hold Morocco until they because they inevitably dropped off against Brazil in the first game. If the tactic was that, it's just that it was a freak goal within 70 seconds that killed the game plan. Because if that goal hadn't gone in, well, who knows what would have happened. But the fact of the matter is when he started putting more forward thinking people on the field, we looked way more threatening, and it's a difficult juggle to have in this game because we do have three points on the board, and we we could we could go through, but do you not think? It's really difficult the fact that say we lose right on Wednesday night. There's we need to wait for hundreds of games to happen to figure out whether or not we've made the thought of that.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

It's not going to be on the night. We're not going to actually know. I didn't even process that that part of it because we're going to be looking at the live table on Wikipedia every game that passes.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Oh, that's torture.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

Um we could we could be th we could be watching every single game, just counting the points and the goals scored and all the way down to whatever the final game is.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Kind of what I was looking at with um the Netherlands-Sweden game yesterday because because Sweden had racked up such a high goal difference from their first match, them getting a tanking off Netherlands was actually good because it brought their goal difference again. But then they went and scored. I'm thinking, oh, I'm already doing the maths, I'm trying to juggle before we've even played a game. It's just it's it's too stressful bringing in this equation of the best third-place teams. Because then if we lose to Brazil, you can go into it and go, well, fine, if we lose, we've still got a chance, but then we've got to keep the score line down because of the goal difference, and at the same time, you want to push forward because you want to keep it in your own hands and go and get the point or points that's going to guarantee it for us. So yeah, it's a difficult balance, but that is why I'm not the manager of Steve Clark.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

No, well, this is well, I I do I do I would love it if look, see if it was 2-1 again, and as long as we didn't lose to our own goal, like Tom Boyd back in 98. Like I I want to go down swinging, do you know what I mean? Like as long as we can go if we're gonna go out, go out playing attacking football and the and the players with their head high, because look it it's been there's been a lot of talk about us for the first time getting out the qualifying stages, but let's not forget that the tournament's changed and all that stuff. That it would still be an amazing feat the first team to do it, but so much has changed to make it easier that let's just let's just play our football and let's just Scotland be Scotland. Don't try and hold out for a 1-0 defeat, let's try and get a 1-0 win.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

I think that's what frustrated me about Friday night because it felt like it was there for the taken. Like it felt if we played 10 more minutes, we could have got something. So because we didn't just get hammered, uh, it wasn't like a Germany match all over again, it was oh that was actually possible. That hurt more. So yeah, Wednesday night is gonna be horrible if that's the reason we go out. But yeah, I I I do tend to agree though. It's like um we qualified because we won our group, we didn't qualify because the competition expanded to 64 teams. We want to progress because we have finished first or second the way you'd normally progress. Taking the kind of backdoor road in, yes, we'll take it, but you kind of want to just do it properly and not have to sit there twiddling your thumbs, going, Are we going home or are we not? I mean, imagine the player sitting in the hotel, not knowing if they can go home to their families or not, and just sit there for like five days.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

And you'd be training as well, like you'd be thinking about like let's let's you'd have to stay fit, but that would be torture. That's horrible. I'm looking at some of the teams if we finish third, who we could likely play, and I think it's like the likes of Japan or Germany um or Sweden, you know, so like it doesn't it's not supposed to get easy, do you know what I mean? No, I still I still believe, I still totally believe that we we had a good performance against Morocco, who I think a lot of people thought after the Brazil game they would absolutely smash us. Morocco are a tidy team, but they didn't bully us. Okay, they didn't for 45 minutes. Um we were the better team, and we deserved to get slapped. What did you think of Steve Clark's post-match interview with Connie McLaughlin?

SPEAKER_00 25:52

This is interesting. I've seen a lot of people slating him um on social. I I actually don't think it is as bad as people are making out.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

So this was an interview that was like maybe two minutes after the full-time whistle sort of thing. It'll be like a flash interview.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

I mean the players have barely walked off the pitch, just for context here. The the the players have are are walking off the pitch essentially, and play the player and well, it's player or manager, isn't it? So they choose which one they want to go for. In this case, they've chosen manager, um, and they take them before they've had any time to regain composure, to get into the dressing room to have any sort of debrief, um, speak to anyone, coaches or teammates, watch back any incidents, they are the sweat is dripping off them, they're out of breath, and it's it's so raw, their emotions. Um done this myself in the past. I've I've been on the opposite end of the happiest and the angriest players. I've I've had hugs and I've had been swore at it's it's the height of all emotions, and you don't take it personally. So I don't Connie's a very experienced reporter, she's been doing this for decades. She will not be feeling attacked in any way. She will understand the emotions involved in it. She'll see Steve Clark again probably the following day or even the same night, and nothing the relationship won't change there. Um, I think he was so emotional and so hot-headed. I I can understand where it's coming from, and I can understand him saying, I don't know why we do these interviews. Now he knows fine well why they do those interviews. It's it's all broadcast, it's the money that's getting paid, it's all part of the contracts. Yes, you have to do them, whether you like it or not. Um, that's a whole different debate if you agree with those happening. They're happening. Tough so tough shit. Um, I think he could have handled himself better, but I um I can excuse it a lot easier than other people because I've been in that situation myself and I understand it.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

Yeah, there's there's two sides to the coin here where you know these flash interviews that happen immediately after full time. Um, you know, sometimes you get great ones like the um Ryan Christie uh when we fall qualified for the first time and he was in tears, you know what I mean? Like, and that's where you look back on and go, wow, what an what an amazing moment. Um but you know it's it's tough for reporters, I felt for Connie, because you're probably trying to get 90 seconds out of them at best, and she probably got about 45 to 50 seconds out of it, which was fair enough. But I I know like a reporter wants to get their the story across, she would have been pretty pissed off, I think, and quite rightly so. I think she can be can be annoyed, um, but you have to balance that with you're going to be like you say, you're going to be speaking to them again the following day. It's it's an ongoing relationship. You can't just keep asking questions and when you know you're already pissing them off. Um, so it's difficult. The other side of it is the fact that all of the clubs, all the players, the manager and the coaching staff would have all been briefed before the World Cup to say, here are the requirements that you must meet, because that's why clubs get that's why clubs get paid money, that's why national associations get paid money from FIFA and host nation hood host broadcasts and host broadcasters. So it's it's tricky, it's even harder on you know the the club staff that have to go up and actually tell the guys. Someone would have had to go up to Steve Clark and said, They want you.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

And uh what would that have been like?

SPEAKER_00 29:29

That would have been a bigger backlash because he'd have been like, absolutely fucking not. Yeah, tell them to fuck off. So he's already going to be annoyed from that conversation before he goes into the next conversation, and that's before he's even processed any of the emotions from the match. Now, I wouldn't have wanted to do that at full time on Friday night, so I can completely excuse the the heightened emotions in that circumstance.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

Yeah, and the other thing is Steve Clark only cares about his players, and and that's a fair point too.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

He could have been a lot worse, he could have been rude, he could have been he could have swore, he could have walked off. And look at how um is it Bielsa did the photo shoot before I mean he literally refused to lift his head for photographers because he said I'm not the model. I'm sorry, but that's that again, that's part of the contractual requirements, and you're in a relaxed stage of the the pre-tournament camp at that point. At least lift your head. You don't even have to smile, mate. Just lift your head.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Have you not seen what's happened off the back of that though? Like he's some sort of superstar. They've they've put like really they've they've regraded it and will put like really class hip hop in it, as if he's on like parental advisement stickers next to him. It's like the coolest album photo ever, like what he's done.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

So all he's done is draw more attention to himself by doing that.

unknown 30:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

Oh, I love Bielsa, he's a proper football guy. Um and I love the internet. I love the internet for that. Just the creativity is amazing. Um, right, so Laura, what do we need to hang a hat on going into Brazil? What's the thing that we're gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 31:09

I think we're gonna probably start with the wrong team and then bring on the subs around the 16th minute, maybe 75th minute, and then we're gonna play an amazing 15-20 minutes, and we're gonna fall short of one goal.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

It's gonna be my crystal ball balls are out, and uh I'm gonna say that we'll get a penalty in the first 20 minutes, and we'll go 1-0 up into halftime, and the second half will be horrific. It'll be one of those like just kick it along just kick along, and okay. Do you know another thing as well? Like, I'll never forget like everyone's uh celebrating the fact that or thinking it's really cool to be taking the kickoff straight from kickoff and launching it for for territory. Neil Lennon did that against Rangers like five years ago. It's not new. Do you remember that? Yeah, yeah. And everyone was like, oh, that's weird. What's that? Neil Lennon of all people did that first. I'm sweat certain of it. And everyone's uh crediting like Arteta, is it? I don't know, it's just it's like hold on, that was made in Scotland. Like everything else, exactly, and on that positive bombshell, uh, let's go to Miami, hard rocket up, and uh send the Brazilians into third place. Oh, how good would that be? Brazil finishing third, but probably still going through.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

That'd be messing up a lot of bets, wouldn't it?

SPEAKER_01 32:44

It would be, and then Brazil go on and win it, and Scotland are the only team to beat Brazil.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

That's actually a very plausible um thing that's possibly gonna happen, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

I'm gonna leave this last time this last one as well. I also learned on the internet, and I have done no research on it, so it's definitely true that in 1966, when England won the World Cup, Scotland refused to enter because they won they won a cup game that that got them qualification to the World Cup, but it was a Diddy Cup. I can't remember what it is. Sorry, listeners. But they so they refused it on the fact that it's not good enough. We should have qualified on our own right. We shouldn't have what we shouldn't be going through. So England then go and win it, Scotland don't take plate uh take part. And what happens in England's first game after the World Cup? Scotland beat them. So we have history of beating world champions. So let's do it again on Wednesday night.

SPEAKER_00 33:41

Right, you found us up now. Let's go and do it. Three points.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

Right, let's do it. If you're still listening to this podcast, thanks very much, but go and do something else. Thanks, Lola!