I failed as a footballer - my words, not yours. But that doesn't stop me from having an opinion...or a podcast.
In this first episode of The Failed Footballer, I OlanTekkers kick off the World Cup with a mix of chaos, confidence and conviction. Before a ball is kicked in Canada, Mexico and the US, I lay out my predictions - who's going to win it, who's going to bag the most goals and which young star is going to be this year's James Rodríguez.
I sit down with someone who did make it: Socceroos legend and A‑League head coach Mile Sterjovski. A man who’s lived the grind, the doubt, the World Cup pressure and the responsibility of guiding the next generation. Together we break down the Socceroos squad, give advice to young players, debate the tactical identity and explain what it will take to get the Socceroos out of the group stages.
Finally, I throw across to my mate and ARN sports reporter John Bric, who’s flying to North America to follow every Socceroos game live. John gives us his predictions, his on‑the‑ground expectations and the wild story of how one footballer went from 4,000 followers to 3.5 million in a week (currently sitting at 4.9m). Insanity.
The Failed Footballer is your front‑row seat to all the action from Canada, Mexico and the US, as we follow Australia (and England) through the group stage (fingers crossed) and beyond.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I failed as a football and so do ninety nine
percent of people, But how many of those people actually
get a podcast? On this podcast, I will be giving
you my unqualified takes, while I'll also be bringing in
some absolute legends of the sport. Trust me, you don't
want to miss out on this one. All the drama,
(00:21):
all the goals and all the AMMA prod the group chat.
Now in today's episode, I get to chat to soccer
who's legend and a league head coach.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I thought to myself, Wow, this is where I.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Need to be.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I make my predictions for the World Cup. What's going on?
Who's going to win? He'll bang in the most goals,
all of that kind of malarky, he'll be the best
young player. And my mate John Bricker is off to
North America lucky lucky. So I don't know how much
money he has in the bank because I can't afford that.
He's going to be watching every single Soccer US game
and he's going to give us all these predictions as well.
(00:59):
First of if you don't know who I am, my
name is Alan Tekers. I was a footballer in England
with Looton Town. But just couldn't quite crack the top.
You know, it's hard to get into zero zero point
one percent. But who's making excuses? Most youth players don't
make it. Now, I'll talk about football for a living
and I'll be doing that throughout this year's World Cup.
Don't worry, I won't just be hearing my voice for
(01:22):
the next six weeks. I'm inviting some absolute legends of
the game who've actually got a qualified opinion, and I
got my man here Toabes will be keeping me in
check in case I stumbled along the wrong lines. Twice
a week, I'll be breaking down the biggest stories, the
best goals, the biggest moments, and following Australia and England.
(01:42):
Of course, England I think might progress all the way
to the finals. Don't laugh, could happen. It's always coming home,
all right. Let's get into my predictions now, the winners.
You know, I don't you know, I don't want to
go through typical. I don't want to go you know,
with Frances and and you know I don't want to
go all there. I'm gonna go England. You know I'm
(02:04):
gonna go is coming home because it's always coming home.
And listen, I know what you're gonna say, too cool.
You know, he's left some people at home, which he has,
but Soccer the man them there I can't just see.
And I'll be in England for it. So I've got
a pick. I've got to pick England run us up
runners up. I'm gonna go with Argentina. I think they're
(02:28):
gonna gonna do a little run. You know, Messi possibly
comes back from his injury and I can just see
it happening. They're just something about Argentina in the World Cup.
People say VR is always on their side. Who knows,
do you know what I mean? They just always seem
to creep in and around Semis, you know that kind
(02:50):
of vibe. So I'm definitely gonna go Argentina. Golden Ball,
which is, you know, best player, I'm gonna give it
to Starboy soccer.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
You know, you know, I know you're not saying I'm
gonna go all with English. I'm not.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I promise you I'm not being biased at all. This
has got nothing to do with England. I'm just going
with players this season Arsenal One Premier League, So soccer Starboy,
That's what I'm going for. The best players shoot me
later a Golden Boot again, I'm gonna you know what,
this one, I'm not gonna go near England. I'm gonna
(03:23):
I'm gonna steer away because you're gonna say that I'm biased.
I'm gonna go with killing Mbappe for the Golden Boot
because he doesn't pass to anyone else, and he will
be passing to nobody, and he will be running for nobody.
He'll just be running for himself in order to score goals.
So if you know anything about Killian and Madrid is
(03:45):
a batsman. He is very much one of the most
talented players in the world. So I'm gonna go with
killing and I know it's probably typical. I know he's
probably up there, but I'm gonna go say for that
one Golden Glove, best Keeper, you know what. You know
what I'm gonna I'm gonna keep this one close to home. Uh,
(04:05):
Matty Ryan. I'm gonna go for Matty Ryan best young Player.
Now my biased is gonna sway me towards Australia. You know,
it's gonna sway me towards eron Akunda. But again, I
don't know how far Australia gonna go, so I can't.
I can't use him as you know, my best young player,
so I'm gonna go with your mau for Spain is
(04:28):
definitely probably the best young talent in the world right now.
Very typical again, but if Spain make it far, it's
gonna because of him. You know, probably the best one
v one dribbler in the world at the moment your mouth.
So that's gonna be my young player at the tournament.
Stick him up there and we'll see how it goes
throughout the World Cup. We're going to a quick break,
but make sure you stick around because coming up we've
(04:50):
got Australian footballing legend and head coach of mccarth Balls,
Mille Stoyorkski. Today we've got a very very special guest
for the first episode. He's very much a successful footballer.
He's an accomplished footballer. He is as far away from
(05:13):
a felled footballer as you can get. He's played for Australia,
He's played in League AH, he's played in Switzerland. He's
even played in the Premier League. He's coached a mighty
central coach Mariners to an a league title and he
currently is a coach of MacArthur balls.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
That is an absolute missile.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Me.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Thank you for joining us in our first guest I'm
really excited to have you on. I'm obviously a fel footballer.
You know, I played at the semi professional level. I
think I should have gotten higher by that. You know,
I blame the coaches for that one no responsibility. You
obviously achieved the heights of the greatest heights of success
as a footballer. And what would you say was your
(05:54):
you know, your defining moment or the moment when you're like,
you know, I've put in the work and I've made
it almost.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
That's a good question. I don't think I ever thought
I've made it up until I finished my career and
I look back. I always felt like there's so much
more to learn, there's so much more to achieve. But
I will say the moment I joined my first professional
team in Europe in Lille, I thought to myself, Wow,
(06:25):
this is where I need to be. This is where
I need to be to get better, to progress and
the environment there was exactly what I needed to become
a much better player. And my goal was always to
play for the soccer use. Ever since I was a
little kid, and I thought, I'm in the right place
for this to, you know, to help me progress to.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
That amazing And I came sticking on the theme of
failure right and being failure? Was that being a fail footblaller?
Was there any point where was the point where you
thought I might fail here? It might I might not
make it? And and then what caused you to keep going?
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Well?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
There was a time when I was in France. I
was there for four years, and halfway through the coach
has changed and I was out of the squad for
for quite some time, and I thought, you know, is
that a time where you know I'm being questioned am
I Am I going to make it? Am I going
to make it through this? Or should I quit and
head back to Australia? But I think, you know, I
(07:25):
think having a strong mentality helps, you know, being resilient
to keep working hard and get through it. And over
time I managed to change the opinion of the coach
and ended up becoming a regular starter under him and
turn things around. But you know, I would have been
thirteen or fourteen games that I was that I was
out of the squad.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So yeah, football is a game of opinions. Isn't it
like one coach And that's what I kind of tell
my people when I'm coaching them, as like one coach
can say, nah, I'm not having a bar, you know,
and then another coach in the same division can say, nah,
you know.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So it's just basically to keep going.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
I think.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I think having self belief and being persistent and knowing
what you're you're capable of doing, and like you said,
somebody will find your value. And I always the advice
that I always give two players of any age is
always go to where you feel valued. I think they'll
get You'll get the most out of yourself and that
team will get the most out of you.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
A lot of people are talking about the Australian squad
at the moment. You know, Mitchell Juki probably maybe just
missed out. You've obviously been coaching him more season. What
your thoughts and your feelings about that.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
If it was me, I think I would have chosen
him in the squad. I think he gives something different,
you know, than than the strikers that we have in
this round squad at the moment. Obviously, that plus the
experience he has in the World Cup. You know, he's
able to provide something that the others don't. And like
I said, I think he would have been a good
addition to the team.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Nice And how do you see this this young soccero
squad going. It's like a mixture of you know, young
and old. You know, you've got like Jordan Boss in there,
you know, those those likes of places coming through and
Acunda's all coming through there And what do you make
of it so far?
Speaker 1 (09:03):
And how did you see? And then possibly go Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
I mean I think with Popovich in charge, we're definitely
harder to beat, you know. I think the way we're
set up is, you know, we are hard to beat
and we need to rely on their use to bring
us that energy going forward. And I think when you
have a lot of young players, it can go either
two ways. You can get a bit of unpredictability, bit
(09:29):
of energy, you know, creating something from nothing fearlessness, or
you know, the pressure can can get to them, you know,
especially in big tournaments. And I think us, as myself
as a nausey fan, we're hoping that it's the way
where they're going to be able to create something out
and nothing and and and show us that unpredictability and
you know, create chances and score goals.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Nice and there's obviously a lot of young players coming through.
I love what you said about that. I want to
get your thoughts on you know me, I grew up
in England, so I obviously come over here and I've
seen your kind of you know, the youth system works,
so to respect you know, would you recommend the pathways
out out there for younger players coming in? I know
you've got the NPR system right and that kind of
feeds into the A league system. What do you kind
(10:13):
of think is the best route for you know, a
young player to come through? How do they get noticed
because a lot of young players out there's a lot
of young players that get missed in the Australian system,
like the NPR system, they get missed in. What do
you think is the best route if if a coach
is looking for what you guys normally looking for.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
I mean it's hard.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
It's hard because there's limited teams, right, there's a limited
amount of A League teams. You know, first and foremost
we look at our own academy first. So you would
say that the best way is to try and get
into an A League academy. But it doesn't mean it's
the only way because like I said before, there's so
many good players and there's a lot of great players
(10:51):
that miss out. I think the important thing is to
keep being persistent and keep playing at the highest level possible.
You know, in Perl one or two is a great level.
And you know, I think the way football in Australia
is going at the moment, we're looking at more and
more MPL players coming through. You know, myself at Macartha
(11:13):
in the past a few seasons were brought in players
from from the util.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
You know.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Walter Scott's a great example who come from from Wollongong
and had a few good seasons with us, you know,
and he's a great player, so.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
He came through his world, didn't he. So you know
there's a there's a couple of players that come in
and just to go back onto the soccer US who
the who the players that you'd say you're your most
you know looking forward to see you play, you know,
part of is knocking there last minute. You know, there's
a bit of controversy around that. What you what your
thoughts about about him getting into the SOCCERO squad after,
you know, maybe not getting into the Italian or A.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, it's it's a it's a very controversial. Yeah, everyone
has an opinion about it, right, But I think that
the only thing that matters is what Tony Popovitch thinks,
you know, and I think that he thinks that he
can help the team and help the way he plays,
you know, So in the end, he's the one that's
going to be judged by it. But in terms of
(12:08):
of who I'm looking forward to seeing, you know, players
like Ikunda, you know who's shown now. He's playing at
a very high level and excelling moture. Again, he's scoring
quite a few goals in England. You know, I'm hoping
that they can turn it on during the World Cup
and and you know, show the fans what, you know,
(12:31):
what they can do. I'm also, you know, very close
with Maddy Ryan. I've known him for quite a long
time and you know, he's had a great career. I
think he's he's probably had the season of his life
in Spain this season that's just passed and you know,
I think his experience he's going to be vital for
us in the World Cup.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And you know, Alouisi we saw. I spoke to Alouisa.
We saw him earlier. You know, we were talking about
this strike because we obviously spoke about Mitchell Djuki as well.
Yange's coming in. He's a little bit of a different threat,
playing in Japan and playing an Asian World Cup as well.
What your thoughts on on him and and him as
a player and what he could probably bring to the
Soccero squad.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Yeah, to be honest, I'm not I haven't been watching
him too much. I'm not too familiar with him, but
he's obviously playing at a good level and Tony sees
something in him in in a way, He's got the
team set up, so it'd be interesting to see how
he goes. What's interesting for me is when when we
(13:29):
look at the squad, he's got quite a few very
good wingers, you know, but it doesn't seem to play
with wingers, you know, and maybe.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
They're going to be doing a job in there.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
It's gonna it's going to live and breathe on if
those fullbacks do their job correctly.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
The fullbacks I got a massive job you know, to
obviously get forward and create as well as the tends
who are assuming will be making a lot of forward
runs and maybe get into those wider areas.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
But you know, players like.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
You think the squad is a bit short on midfielders.
It was ten ten defenders in there. You know, you
got a few few midfielders. I'm assuming he's probably gonna
drop some of those defenders into that midfield else maybe
some of the attackers into the midfield as well. But
it looked very thin in the midfield. What were your
thoughts on that.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
I think he's an experienced coach. I think he knows
what he wants from each player, and I'm sure there's
definitely quite a few players who can play a few
different positions. You know, obviously there's there's quite a few
wingers like we just mentioned, and you know, I'm thinking
that they will be playing in the kind of like
the ten positions and making forward runs, a wider runs.
(14:35):
You've got Lecky also who can play as a winger
or as a ten or in midfield. So you know,
I think he knows what he needed in the squad,
and you know, time will tell how he goes.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Okay and the group stay just want to touch on
the groups. The group at the moment. Now we've got
USA you've got USA and say we like, I'm Aussie. Sorry,
you've got USA and you've got paraguy in there and
Turk and what do you you say? Did you see
what they said about the Australians. They're coming in there,
very cocky, you know, they're coming in there. They almost
dismissed the Ossies in a sense. The USA squad is
(15:11):
it's a strong squad when you look it on paper.
They've got players all over Europe. What do you think
the keys to that game? And is it going to
be one of the deciders if they can kick on?
Speaker 3 (15:21):
I think from what they've already said in earlier reports,
I think that's going to work to our benefit. You know.
I think we like being the underdog, as you know,
and if if a team like USA said, you know
they're gonna beat us easily, I think it'll work to advantage.
You know, it will help motivate the team. And I'm
expecting that one to be a big match.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, that'll be that'll be huge.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I mean I don't think Australia have ever played a
host nation before, so it definitely be a kind of
a hostile environment, so to speak. And now I want
to talk about the players in the World Cup, big
players in the World Cup. Any of your predictions for
who you think might win the World Cup and why.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I think if Argentina make the final, I think they'll
the mess out again. Yeah, I think if they make
the final, they will win the World Cup. Really yeah,
you know they've obviously they won a last time round.
You know, they've got a lot more experience now moving forward.
Quite a few of their players have been playing in America,
including MESSI yeah, I really feel like if they make
(16:23):
the final though, they'll win it.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And what do you think about France France's chances of
possibly get to the finals.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I mean, there's quite a few teams you could say,
you know, you've got France, you got Portugal, Spain is
a great scene.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
And there's always one underdog team who you know in
Morocco last time you know, he never know who's just
going to pop up in tournament. Golden Boot winner maybe.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
I think and Buppe, I think he's you know, I
think he's I think he was the top scorer last
time round and he's closing in on the all time records,
so I think you'll be hungry to score a lot
of goals.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
You know, you played for the soccer rus. You know,
it's huge honor to play for your country, and that's
probably the biggest on that you can have. What's your
your fondest memory of possibly playing for the soccer or
playing for the soccer.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Sorry, I would say in the two thousand and six
World Cup having the drawer against Croatia and getting through
to the next round. I think that was a massive
achievement for us. But I also think we gained a
lot of respect in that game and in that World Cup,
and I remember doing you know, kind of a lap
(17:29):
of honor with the team after the game, not only
for the Aussie fans, but there was quite a few
Croatian fans who gave the standing ovation. So that was
a special memory.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So you obviously did it all you at in the
World Cup. Two thousand and six World Cup would have
been you know, I heard from even from England it
was one of the most amazing things. What would you
say to this young young soccerus going out there? Now
you know Fort's feelings and how they should be getting
their mind right.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
I embraced the challenge, you know, I think, like I
said earlier, yeah, not many people expect much from the
soccer US, but it's a chance to prove everybody wrong.
I think it's in our dna to keep fighting too,
you know, to put in one hundred percent. And I
think they've got an opportunity, you know, to prove a
(18:16):
lot of people wrong, and an opportunity to excite fans
back in Australia. And in Australia everybody is behind them
around the World Cup time. I think all of Australia
gets behind the soccer US and they've got a chance
to make everybody proud.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yeah, that must have been unbelievable. Now your daughter is
actually one of the emergent Matilda's right. How hard is
it to balance being a father and being a coach
because you're in the world, do you know exactly like
what she needs?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Sports?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
She needs, but you also want to be a dad
as well and not be too hard on that. How
do you How do you find that balance?
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
The balance has kind of blurred a little bit, you know,
like when I when I give advice as a father,
it kind of comes across as a coach.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
It's it is a difficult.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Thing to balance. But I think we're just I just
try and try and be myself, you know, be supportive
as much as possible. I think I've kind of learned
now that she doesn't like to be spoken to after
training or after games, so well, I've got to leave.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
It a few days a letter and then you go
and give it the tactics and all.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
But you know, I think, like I said, I just
try and be myself and you know, whichever way it
comes across, you know, that's fine. But I think so
far it's been okay.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
And is there any advice to used to parents because
I used to coach as well a lot of parents
and you know, them wanting their kids to follow this
path to be football because everyone wants to be a
football when they're younger. Any advice to parents that you
know a lot for kids having that journey to be
in football on what to do and how to manage it.
And I always think you shouldn't. The joy should come
from the child, you know. It shouldn't be like you saying, okay,
(19:55):
you want we've gotta go training, We've gotta go do.
It should come from do they want to train? You
know a lot of people, a lot I feel like
some parents do force their kids down this path, say,
and you you're a footballer or a coach, it kind
of feels like expectations. Yeah, a lot of expectations. Your
daughter's going to play, Okay, she's going to be as
good as you. She's going to play to the level
of you. You know, what you say is your advice
(20:15):
to kind of just parents in general and their kids.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
And I think, well, my wife and I we never
put our kids in football for them to make it.
We we just know what football gives back, you know,
and as long as they're enjoying it, and they're my kids,
as long as they're enjoying it, and they've got the
drive to keep training, keep playing and mostly enjoying it,
we're there to guide them and to help them in
(20:40):
their past, you know. And if if their past leads
them to becoming a professional, and it's if it's what
they want, then that's fine. But for us, there's so
much more that football gives you than just making it
as a professional.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Love that well me, thank you so much for joining us.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
And hopefully, you know, soucers get through and around the
sixteen and let's see.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
How that goes. Cheers too, cheers, John, How are we mate, Owen?
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Good to see my friend has things.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, good man, good to see you again. So are
you now heading to America? Are you in America right now?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Now?
Speaker 5 (21:13):
I'm flying out in about six days, heading straight to Vancouver. Obviously,
get some rest once I touchdown, but yeah, really excited
to get They're going to you know, check out the
Ossies last training session, hit up the press conference, and
then yeah, get ready for Saturday's opening game of the
Cup against Turkey in Vancouver.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
True Ozzie found out. If you don't know, John will
be our correspondent down there on the ground, giving us
the feedback, giving us the field, giving us anything that's
going on in the States. Now, let's talk about a squad.
The squad came out. Who's missing, you know, exclusions? What
are your thoughts, John.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
Well, obviously the big one. The sad story is Martin
Boyle missing out on the squad.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Like the fans going crazy about that one, isn't they?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Well it's pretty sad.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
I mean he missed last year's World called last World
Cup with an ACL injury just days before the tournament.
And this year really interesting story. Christian val Paddy was
it is our boy now, but he was on the
road to play for Italy. I think he was waiting
for Italy's qualification for the World Cup. They didn't make it,
and literally five days ago last Friday, he decided to
(22:13):
switch his allegiances to Australia and he's been selected. Has
never played for Australia. He took Martin Boyle's spot, so
really sad for.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
A lot of people were a bit salty about that.
And I think he's playing siria A, you know, like
it's just I think he again, it's a bit it's
a bit of a controversial one. If you want him
in a squad, if you don't want him a squad,
can he help soccer US one hundred percent? Is he
one of the most talented Australian players out there at
the moment, one hundred percent. So you know him over
Martin Ball would soccer use fans obviously would probably prefer
(22:45):
Martin Bill. But if you want to get further, you're
going to take Volpato.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
No.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
I think you're absolutely right.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Oh, and you have to go with he's playing, as
you said, top tier siri A.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
I mean, you know you need players like that.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
We Australia don't have any players playing top tier europe
Peen football.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Take the ones you've got.
Speaker 5 (23:01):
He's young, he's exciting, he's youthful, he's got X factor
status to him. So I think that is a no
brainer decision right there, Olen.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking. Now, give me your predictions.
You'll be on the ground, you'll be seeing the fan,
you'll be seeing it all up close in person.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Golden Boat. Who you're going for?
Speaker 5 (23:17):
Look, I've actually got my opinion on he's going to
win all three major trophies this year.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
Oh my god, but you might like my predictions. Heah.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
I'm thinking that England's going to take it home for you. Olen,
all right, that's my Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
You know you're teasing me at the moment, you tea
you teasing me.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
You've got the team I think on paper, and you've
got a great period where I think some of the
bigger nations aren't as powerful as they once were. Brazil
is one of those included. Germany's another one. I'm tipping
Harry Kane to lead you guys all the way.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
He's going to win the Golden Boot.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Golden Boots, Yes, going and use in the England going
to win it and then Harry Keane's going to give
us the Golden Boat. I will definitely be in England
for that, I'll tell you that much. Oh my gosh.
And player at the tournament Harry Day.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Again, are you? Are you a Spurs fan?
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Not a bit of one at the moment?
Speaker 5 (24:06):
No, No, A Leeds fan growing up, Harry Killing, Mark
Dukill my sort of idols in the football well, growing
up as a young Australian. But look, I just think
if you're going to win the Golden Boot this year,
you're going to lead your country very far in the tournament.
Messi won the Player of the tournament last World Company. Yeah,
he led them through all the way to the end
of the tournament and he won it for Argentina. So
I think that's sort of where it's going to go.
(24:28):
I think England's got that opportunity today. Obviously in Bay
from France is the big one whose favorite at the
moment and very warranted. France have got an exceptional side
on paper. They are up there with the top line
of betting for the tournament favorite.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
So yeah, they've never not been there. I think they're
just yeah, always solid always challenging. They've always got emerging
talent coming out of there, one of the definitely wanted
teams to watch out for. Now, let's talk about a
little bit different my man Tim Paine overnight, you know, celebrity.
Some would say I think he's getting what three point
(25:02):
five million followers overnight because one creator shouted him out
and said he's the guy to watch. What are your
thoughts on that he's got more followers than arsenal mate?
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Man, he's got more followers in the entire New Zealand
All Blacks rugby team, Like, it's insane how many follows
this guy has got four million?
Speaker 4 (25:19):
I think it is in one way.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
Love the story and the best part about it, Olin
is if you heard the labers, we've got an Australian
player at the moment, Kai Truan, who.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
This is the next one to watch out for. I
don't know too much about Kai Truon have you've got
you've got a bit info about him?
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Not much.
Speaker 5 (25:33):
Look, he does plays football in America for New York City.
He's a defender. I don't think he'll be part of
the starting eleven, but he's on the squad.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Obviously he will play for Australia.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
The pretty much come out and said that this guy
is the least well known player in the tournament. He's
the new Tim Payne because Tim Paine's too popular. Now
he's got four million followers.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
So even saw the guy comparing it to like a
Ronaldo Messi rivalry and saying like he's they're both Australian,
he's from New Zealand, blah blah, but lives in Australia.
I'm thinking, what is this guy? But anyway, he's gaining
what one hundred thousand followers overnight.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
Right last check he was one hundred and seventeen thousand
on Instagram and growing. It's a fair way off four million,
but who knows, maybe by the time I touched it.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Who knows that you start and what do you think
of is because my thoughts is like it kind of
almost puts ten times more pressure on the player because
it's like, you know, you're going an unknown you know,
maybe you gain some followers from or you gain a
notoriety for your performances, but you've potentially gained you know,
four million people watching you off a video and now
it's like all right, now you've got a guy.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
It's more pressure on the plate to perform, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
It's overnight pressure too. I think when you're one of
these superstars like in bat Day and Cane.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
You're growing grow gross.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
Tim Bay's waking up one week and he's more famous
in the entire New Zealand cricket team.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
So what's going on. It's hilarious.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Yeah, I was thinking. I was thinking does this help
him or does this not help him? Like people are
going to be watching him more, but he's going to
feel like if I don't perform now there's four million
people watching me, I might get more slander. He might
more Hey, you know, you never know, so you know,
hopefully it does go well for the maybe you'll get
some brand news. You know, if all else fails, it
could just become an influencer like me and it'll be
all right, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
So he's all sweet.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
It's a sweet He's all sweet.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Anyway, John, thanks for joining us. We'll catch you on
the next one and hopefully, you know, you'll have some
updates for us on what's going on down there. Man,
We appreciate you joining us again.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
John.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
Thanks, I'll take care. I'll touch base on the Vancouver,
my friend Turk.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
We'll see you soon.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
That's all from the failed football up. Will be back
in a few days or so. Make sure you're following
the show wherever you listen or wherever you're watching us.
I'm only takes. I'll see you next time.
Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I failed as a football and so do ninety nine
percent of people, But how many of those people actually
get a podcast? On this podcast, I will be giving
you my unqualified takes, while I'll also be bringing in
some absolute legends of the sport. Trust me, you don't
want to miss out on this one. All the drama,
(00:21):
all the goals and all the AMMA prod the group chat.
Now in today's episode, I get to chat to soccer
who's legend and a league head coach.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I thought to myself, Wow, this is where I.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Need to be.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I make my predictions for the World Cup. What's going on?
Who's going to win? He'll bang in the most goals,
all of that kind of malarky, he'll be the best
young player. And my mate John Bricker is off to
North America lucky lucky. So I don't know how much
money he has in the bank because I can't afford that.
He's going to be watching every single Soccer US game
and he's going to give us all these predictions as well.
(00:59):
First of if you don't know who I am, my
name is Alan Tekers. I was a footballer in England
with Looton Town. But just couldn't quite crack the top.
You know, it's hard to get into zero zero point
one percent. But who's making excuses? Most youth players don't
make it. Now, I'll talk about football for a living
and I'll be doing that throughout this year's World Cup.
Don't worry, I won't just be hearing my voice for
(01:22):
the next six weeks. I'm inviting some absolute legends of
the game who've actually got a qualified opinion, and I
got my man here Toabes will be keeping me in
check in case I stumbled along the wrong lines. Twice
a week, I'll be breaking down the biggest stories, the
best goals, the biggest moments, and following Australia and England.
(01:42):
Of course, England I think might progress all the way
to the finals. Don't laugh, could happen. It's always coming home,
all right. Let's get into my predictions now, the winners.
You know, I don't you know, I don't want to
go through typical. I don't want to go you know,
with Frances and and you know I don't want to
go all there. I'm gonna go England. You know I'm
(02:04):
gonna go is coming home because it's always coming home.
And listen, I know what you're gonna say, too cool.
You know, he's left some people at home, which he has,
but Soccer the man them there I can't just see.
And I'll be in England for it. So I've got
a pick. I've got to pick England run us up
runners up. I'm gonna go with Argentina. I think they're
(02:28):
gonna gonna do a little run. You know, Messi possibly
comes back from his injury and I can just see
it happening. They're just something about Argentina in the World Cup.
People say VR is always on their side. Who knows,
do you know what I mean? They just always seem
to creep in and around Semis, you know that kind
(02:50):
of vibe. So I'm definitely gonna go Argentina. Golden Ball,
which is, you know, best player, I'm gonna give it
to Starboy soccer.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
You know, you know, I know you're not saying I'm
gonna go all with English. I'm not.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I promise you I'm not being biased at all. This
has got nothing to do with England. I'm just going
with players this season Arsenal One Premier League, So soccer Starboy,
That's what I'm going for. The best players shoot me
later a Golden Boot again, I'm gonna you know what,
this one, I'm not gonna go near England. I'm gonna
(03:23):
I'm gonna steer away because you're gonna say that I'm biased.
I'm gonna go with killing Mbappe for the Golden Boot
because he doesn't pass to anyone else, and he will
be passing to nobody, and he will be running for nobody.
He'll just be running for himself in order to score goals.
So if you know anything about Killian and Madrid is
(03:45):
a batsman. He is very much one of the most
talented players in the world. So I'm gonna go with
killing and I know it's probably typical. I know he's
probably up there, but I'm gonna go say for that
one Golden Glove, best Keeper, you know what. You know
what I'm gonna I'm gonna keep this one close to home. Uh,
(04:05):
Matty Ryan. I'm gonna go for Matty Ryan best young Player.
Now my biased is gonna sway me towards Australia. You know,
it's gonna sway me towards eron Akunda. But again, I
don't know how far Australia gonna go, so I can't.
I can't use him as you know, my best young player,
so I'm gonna go with your mau for Spain is
(04:28):
definitely probably the best young talent in the world right now.
Very typical again, but if Spain make it far, it's
gonna because of him. You know, probably the best one
v one dribbler in the world at the moment your mouth.
So that's gonna be my young player at the tournament.
Stick him up there and we'll see how it goes
throughout the World Cup. We're going to a quick break,
but make sure you stick around because coming up we've
(04:50):
got Australian footballing legend and head coach of mccarth Balls,
Mille Stoyorkski. Today we've got a very very special guest
for the first episode. He's very much a successful footballer.
He's an accomplished footballer. He is as far away from
(05:13):
a felled footballer as you can get. He's played for Australia,
He's played in League AH, he's played in Switzerland. He's
even played in the Premier League. He's coached a mighty
central coach Mariners to an a league title and he
currently is a coach of MacArthur balls.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
That is an absolute missile.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Me.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Thank you for joining us in our first guest I'm
really excited to have you on. I'm obviously a fel footballer.
You know, I played at the semi professional level. I
think I should have gotten higher by that. You know,
I blame the coaches for that one no responsibility. You
obviously achieved the heights of the greatest heights of success
as a footballer. And what would you say was your
(05:54):
you know, your defining moment or the moment when you're like,
you know, I've put in the work and I've made
it almost.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
That's a good question. I don't think I ever thought
I've made it up until I finished my career and
I look back. I always felt like there's so much
more to learn, there's so much more to achieve. But
I will say the moment I joined my first professional
team in Europe in Lille, I thought to myself, Wow,
(06:25):
this is where I need to be. This is where
I need to be to get better, to progress and
the environment there was exactly what I needed to become
a much better player. And my goal was always to
play for the soccer use. Ever since I was a
little kid, and I thought, I'm in the right place
for this to, you know, to help me progress to.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
That amazing And I came sticking on the theme of
failure right and being failure? Was that being a fail footblaller?
Was there any point where was the point where you
thought I might fail here? It might I might not
make it? And and then what caused you to keep going?
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Well?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
There was a time when I was in France. I
was there for four years, and halfway through the coach
has changed and I was out of the squad for
for quite some time, and I thought, you know, is
that a time where you know I'm being questioned am
I Am I going to make it? Am I going
to make it through this? Or should I quit and
head back to Australia? But I think, you know, I
(07:25):
think having a strong mentality helps, you know, being resilient
to keep working hard and get through it. And over
time I managed to change the opinion of the coach
and ended up becoming a regular starter under him and
turn things around. But you know, I would have been
thirteen or fourteen games that I was that I was
out of the squad.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So yeah, football is a game of opinions. Isn't it
like one coach And that's what I kind of tell
my people when I'm coaching them, as like one coach
can say, nah, I'm not having a bar, you know,
and then another coach in the same division can say, nah,
you know.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So it's just basically to keep going.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
I think.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I think having self belief and being persistent and knowing
what you're you're capable of doing, and like you said,
somebody will find your value. And I always the advice
that I always give two players of any age is
always go to where you feel valued. I think they'll
get You'll get the most out of yourself and that
team will get the most out of you.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
A lot of people are talking about the Australian squad
at the moment. You know, Mitchell Juki probably maybe just
missed out. You've obviously been coaching him more season. What
your thoughts and your feelings about that.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
If it was me, I think I would have chosen
him in the squad. I think he gives something different,
you know, than than the strikers that we have in
this round squad at the moment. Obviously, that plus the
experience he has in the World Cup. You know, he's
able to provide something that the others don't. And like
I said, I think he would have been a good
addition to the team.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Nice And how do you see this this young soccero
squad going. It's like a mixture of you know, young
and old. You know, you've got like Jordan Boss in there,
you know, those those likes of places coming through and
Acunda's all coming through there And what do you make
of it so far?
Speaker 1 (09:03):
And how did you see? And then possibly go Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
I mean I think with Popovich in charge, we're definitely
harder to beat, you know. I think the way we're
set up is, you know, we are hard to beat
and we need to rely on their use to bring
us that energy going forward. And I think when you
have a lot of young players, it can go either
two ways. You can get a bit of unpredictability, bit
(09:29):
of energy, you know, creating something from nothing fearlessness, or
you know, the pressure can can get to them, you know,
especially in big tournaments. And I think us, as myself
as a nausey fan, we're hoping that it's the way
where they're going to be able to create something out
and nothing and and and show us that unpredictability and
you know, create chances and score goals.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Nice and there's obviously a lot of young players coming through.
I love what you said about that. I want to
get your thoughts on you know me, I grew up
in England, so I obviously come over here and I've
seen your kind of you know, the youth system works,
so to respect you know, would you recommend the pathways
out out there for younger players coming in? I know
you've got the NPR system right and that kind of
feeds into the A league system. What do you kind
(10:13):
of think is the best route for you know, a
young player to come through? How do they get noticed
because a lot of young players out there's a lot
of young players that get missed in the Australian system,
like the NPR system, they get missed in. What do
you think is the best route if if a coach
is looking for what you guys normally looking for.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
I mean it's hard.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
It's hard because there's limited teams, right, there's a limited
amount of A League teams. You know, first and foremost
we look at our own academy first. So you would
say that the best way is to try and get
into an A League academy. But it doesn't mean it's
the only way because like I said before, there's so
many good players and there's a lot of great players
(10:51):
that miss out. I think the important thing is to
keep being persistent and keep playing at the highest level possible.
You know, in Perl one or two is a great level.
And you know, I think the way football in Australia
is going at the moment, we're looking at more and
more MPL players coming through. You know, myself at Macartha
(11:13):
in the past a few seasons were brought in players
from from the util.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
You know.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Walter Scott's a great example who come from from Wollongong
and had a few good seasons with us, you know,
and he's a great player, so.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
He came through his world, didn't he. So you know
there's a there's a couple of players that come in
and just to go back onto the soccer US who
the who the players that you'd say you're your most
you know looking forward to see you play, you know,
part of is knocking there last minute. You know, there's
a bit of controversy around that. What you what your
thoughts about about him getting into the SOCCERO squad after,
you know, maybe not getting into the Italian or A.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, it's it's a it's a very controversial. Yeah, everyone
has an opinion about it, right, But I think that
the only thing that matters is what Tony Popovitch thinks,
you know, and I think that he thinks that he
can help the team and help the way he plays,
you know, So in the end, he's the one that's
going to be judged by it. But in terms of
(12:08):
of who I'm looking forward to seeing, you know, players
like Ikunda, you know who's shown now. He's playing at
a very high level and excelling moture. Again, he's scoring
quite a few goals in England. You know, I'm hoping
that they can turn it on during the World Cup
and and you know, show the fans what, you know,
(12:31):
what they can do. I'm also, you know, very close
with Maddy Ryan. I've known him for quite a long
time and you know, he's had a great career. I
think he's he's probably had the season of his life
in Spain this season that's just passed and you know,
I think his experience he's going to be vital for
us in the World Cup.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And you know, Alouisi we saw. I spoke to Alouisa.
We saw him earlier. You know, we were talking about
this strike because we obviously spoke about Mitchell Djuki as well.
Yange's coming in. He's a little bit of a different threat,
playing in Japan and playing an Asian World Cup as well.
What your thoughts on on him and and him as
a player and what he could probably bring to the
Soccero squad.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Yeah, to be honest, I'm not I haven't been watching
him too much. I'm not too familiar with him, but
he's obviously playing at a good level and Tony sees
something in him in in a way, He's got the
team set up, so it'd be interesting to see how
he goes. What's interesting for me is when when we
(13:29):
look at the squad, he's got quite a few very
good wingers, you know, but it doesn't seem to play
with wingers, you know, and maybe.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
They're going to be doing a job in there.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
It's gonna it's going to live and breathe on if
those fullbacks do their job correctly.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
The fullbacks I got a massive job you know, to
obviously get forward and create as well as the tends
who are assuming will be making a lot of forward
runs and maybe get into those wider areas.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
But you know, players like.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
You think the squad is a bit short on midfielders.
It was ten ten defenders in there. You know, you
got a few few midfielders. I'm assuming he's probably gonna
drop some of those defenders into that midfield else maybe
some of the attackers into the midfield as well. But
it looked very thin in the midfield. What were your
thoughts on that.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
I think he's an experienced coach. I think he knows
what he wants from each player, and I'm sure there's
definitely quite a few players who can play a few
different positions. You know, obviously there's there's quite a few
wingers like we just mentioned, and you know, I'm thinking
that they will be playing in the kind of like
the ten positions and making forward runs, a wider runs.
(14:35):
You've got Lecky also who can play as a winger
or as a ten or in midfield. So you know,
I think he knows what he needed in the squad,
and you know, time will tell how he goes.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Okay and the group stay just want to touch on
the groups. The group at the moment. Now we've got
USA you've got USA and say we like, I'm Aussie. Sorry,
you've got USA and you've got paraguy in there and
Turk and what do you you say? Did you see
what they said about the Australians. They're coming in there,
very cocky, you know, they're coming in there. They almost
dismissed the Ossies in a sense. The USA squad is
(15:11):
it's a strong squad when you look it on paper.
They've got players all over Europe. What do you think
the keys to that game? And is it going to
be one of the deciders if they can kick on?
Speaker 3 (15:21):
I think from what they've already said in earlier reports,
I think that's going to work to our benefit. You know.
I think we like being the underdog, as you know,
and if if a team like USA said, you know
they're gonna beat us easily, I think it'll work to advantage.
You know, it will help motivate the team. And I'm
expecting that one to be a big match.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, that'll be that'll be huge.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I mean I don't think Australia have ever played a
host nation before, so it definitely be a kind of
a hostile environment, so to speak. And now I want
to talk about the players in the World Cup, big
players in the World Cup. Any of your predictions for
who you think might win the World Cup and why.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I think if Argentina make the final, I think they'll
the mess out again. Yeah, I think if they make
the final, they will win the World Cup. Really yeah,
you know they've obviously they won a last time round.
You know, they've got a lot more experience now moving forward.
Quite a few of their players have been playing in America,
including MESSI yeah, I really feel like if they make
(16:23):
the final though, they'll win it.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
And what do you think about France France's chances of
possibly get to the finals.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I mean, there's quite a few teams you could say,
you know, you've got France, you got Portugal, Spain is
a great scene.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
And there's always one underdog team who you know in
Morocco last time you know, he never know who's just
going to pop up in tournament. Golden Boot winner maybe.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
I think and Buppe, I think he's you know, I
think he's I think he was the top scorer last
time round and he's closing in on the all time records,
so I think you'll be hungry to score a lot
of goals.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
You know, you played for the soccer rus. You know,
it's huge honor to play for your country, and that's
probably the biggest on that you can have. What's your
your fondest memory of possibly playing for the soccer or
playing for the soccer.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Sorry, I would say in the two thousand and six
World Cup having the drawer against Croatia and getting through
to the next round. I think that was a massive
achievement for us. But I also think we gained a
lot of respect in that game and in that World Cup,
and I remember doing you know, kind of a lap
(17:29):
of honor with the team after the game, not only
for the Aussie fans, but there was quite a few
Croatian fans who gave the standing ovation. So that was
a special memory.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So you obviously did it all you at in the
World Cup. Two thousand and six World Cup would have
been you know, I heard from even from England it
was one of the most amazing things. What would you
say to this young young soccerus going out there? Now
you know Fort's feelings and how they should be getting
their mind right.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
I embraced the challenge, you know, I think, like I
said earlier, yeah, not many people expect much from the
soccer US, but it's a chance to prove everybody wrong.
I think it's in our dna to keep fighting too,
you know, to put in one hundred percent. And I
think they've got an opportunity, you know, to prove a
(18:16):
lot of people wrong, and an opportunity to excite fans
back in Australia. And in Australia everybody is behind them
around the World Cup time. I think all of Australia
gets behind the soccer US and they've got a chance
to make everybody proud.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Yeah, that must have been unbelievable. Now your daughter is
actually one of the emergent Matilda's right. How hard is
it to balance being a father and being a coach
because you're in the world, do you know exactly like
what she needs?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Sports?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
She needs, but you also want to be a dad
as well and not be too hard on that. How
do you How do you find that balance?
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
The balance has kind of blurred a little bit, you know,
like when I when I give advice as a father,
it kind of comes across as a coach.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
It's it is a difficult.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Thing to balance. But I think we're just I just
try and try and be myself, you know, be supportive
as much as possible. I think I've kind of learned
now that she doesn't like to be spoken to after
training or after games, so well, I've got to leave.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
It a few days a letter and then you go
and give it the tactics and all.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
But you know, I think, like I said, I just
try and be myself and you know, whichever way it
comes across, you know, that's fine. But I think so
far it's been okay.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
And is there any advice to used to parents because
I used to coach as well a lot of parents
and you know, them wanting their kids to follow this
path to be football because everyone wants to be a
football when they're younger. Any advice to parents that you
know a lot for kids having that journey to be
in football on what to do and how to manage it.
And I always think you shouldn't. The joy should come
from the child, you know. It shouldn't be like you saying, okay,
(19:55):
you want we've gotta go training, We've gotta go do.
It should come from do they want to train? You
know a lot of people, a lot I feel like
some parents do force their kids down this path, say,
and you you're a footballer or a coach, it kind
of feels like expectations. Yeah, a lot of expectations. Your
daughter's going to play, Okay, she's going to be as
good as you. She's going to play to the level
of you. You know, what you say is your advice
(20:15):
to kind of just parents in general and their kids.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
And I think, well, my wife and I we never
put our kids in football for them to make it.
We we just know what football gives back, you know,
and as long as they're enjoying it, and they're my kids,
as long as they're enjoying it, and they've got the
drive to keep training, keep playing and mostly enjoying it,
we're there to guide them and to help them in
(20:40):
their past, you know. And if if their past leads
them to becoming a professional, and it's if it's what
they want, then that's fine. But for us, there's so
much more that football gives you than just making it
as a professional.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Love that well me, thank you so much for joining us.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
And hopefully, you know, soucers get through and around the
sixteen and let's see.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
How that goes. Cheers too, cheers, John, How are we mate, Owen?
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Good to see my friend has things.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, good man, good to see you again. So are
you now heading to America? Are you in America right now?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Now?
Speaker 5 (21:13):
I'm flying out in about six days, heading straight to Vancouver. Obviously,
get some rest once I touchdown, but yeah, really excited
to get They're going to you know, check out the
Ossies last training session, hit up the press conference, and
then yeah, get ready for Saturday's opening game of the
Cup against Turkey in Vancouver.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
True Ozzie found out. If you don't know, John will
be our correspondent down there on the ground, giving us
the feedback, giving us the field, giving us anything that's
going on in the States. Now, let's talk about a squad.
The squad came out. Who's missing, you know, exclusions? What
are your thoughts, John.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
Well, obviously the big one. The sad story is Martin
Boyle missing out on the squad.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Like the fans going crazy about that one, isn't they?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Well it's pretty sad.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
I mean he missed last year's World called last World
Cup with an ACL injury just days before the tournament.
And this year really interesting story. Christian val Paddy was
it is our boy now, but he was on the
road to play for Italy. I think he was waiting
for Italy's qualification for the World Cup. They didn't make it,
and literally five days ago last Friday, he decided to
(22:13):
switch his allegiances to Australia and he's been selected. Has
never played for Australia. He took Martin Boyle's spot, so
really sad for.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
A lot of people were a bit salty about that.
And I think he's playing siria A, you know, like
it's just I think he again, it's a bit it's
a bit of a controversial one. If you want him
in a squad, if you don't want him a squad,
can he help soccer US one hundred percent? Is he
one of the most talented Australian players out there at
the moment, one hundred percent. So you know him over
Martin Ball would soccer use fans obviously would probably prefer
(22:45):
Martin Bill. But if you want to get further, you're
going to take Volpato.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
No.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
I think you're absolutely right.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Oh, and you have to go with he's playing, as
you said, top tier siri A.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
I mean, you know you need players like that.
Speaker 5 (22:57):
We Australia don't have any players playing top tier europe
Peen football.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Take the ones you've got.
Speaker 5 (23:01):
He's young, he's exciting, he's youthful, he's got X factor
status to him. So I think that is a no
brainer decision right there, Olen.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking. Now, give me your predictions.
You'll be on the ground, you'll be seeing the fan,
you'll be seeing it all up close in person.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Golden Boat. Who you're going for?
Speaker 5 (23:17):
Look, I've actually got my opinion on he's going to
win all three major trophies this year.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
Oh my god, but you might like my predictions. Heah.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
I'm thinking that England's going to take it home for you. Olen,
all right, that's my Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
You know you're teasing me at the moment, you tea
you teasing me.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
You've got the team I think on paper, and you've
got a great period where I think some of the
bigger nations aren't as powerful as they once were. Brazil
is one of those included. Germany's another one. I'm tipping
Harry Kane to lead you guys all the way.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
He's going to win the Golden Boot.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Golden Boots, Yes, going and use in the England going
to win it and then Harry Keane's going to give
us the Golden Boat. I will definitely be in England
for that, I'll tell you that much. Oh my gosh.
And player at the tournament Harry Day.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Again, are you? Are you a Spurs fan?
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Not a bit of one at the moment?
Speaker 5 (24:06):
No, No, A Leeds fan growing up, Harry Killing, Mark
Dukill my sort of idols in the football well, growing
up as a young Australian. But look, I just think
if you're going to win the Golden Boot this year,
you're going to lead your country very far in the tournament.
Messi won the Player of the tournament last World Company. Yeah,
he led them through all the way to the end
of the tournament and he won it for Argentina. So
I think that's sort of where it's going to go.
(24:28):
I think England's got that opportunity today. Obviously in Bay
from France is the big one whose favorite at the
moment and very warranted. France have got an exceptional side
on paper. They are up there with the top line
of betting for the tournament favorite.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
So yeah, they've never not been there. I think they're
just yeah, always solid always challenging. They've always got emerging
talent coming out of there, one of the definitely wanted
teams to watch out for. Now, let's talk about a
little bit different my man Tim Paine overnight, you know, celebrity.
Some would say I think he's getting what three point
(25:02):
five million followers overnight because one creator shouted him out
and said he's the guy to watch. What are your
thoughts on that he's got more followers than arsenal mate?
Speaker 5 (25:13):
Man, he's got more followers in the entire New Zealand
All Blacks rugby team, Like, it's insane how many follows
this guy has got four million?
Speaker 4 (25:19):
I think it is in one way.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
Love the story and the best part about it, Olin
is if you heard the labers, we've got an Australian
player at the moment, Kai Truan, who.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
This is the next one to watch out for. I
don't know too much about Kai Truon have you've got
you've got a bit info about him?
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Not much.
Speaker 5 (25:33):
Look, he does plays football in America for New York City.
He's a defender. I don't think he'll be part of
the starting eleven, but he's on the squad.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Obviously he will play for Australia.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
The pretty much come out and said that this guy
is the least well known player in the tournament. He's
the new Tim Payne because Tim Paine's too popular. Now
he's got four million followers.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
So even saw the guy comparing it to like a
Ronaldo Messi rivalry and saying like he's they're both Australian,
he's from New Zealand, blah blah, but lives in Australia.
I'm thinking, what is this guy? But anyway, he's gaining
what one hundred thousand followers overnight.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
Right last check he was one hundred and seventeen thousand
on Instagram and growing. It's a fair way off four million,
but who knows, maybe by the time I touched it.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Who knows that you start and what do you think
of is because my thoughts is like it kind of
almost puts ten times more pressure on the player because
it's like, you know, you're going an unknown you know,
maybe you gain some followers from or you gain a
notoriety for your performances, but you've potentially gained you know,
four million people watching you off a video and now
it's like all right, now you've got a guy.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
It's more pressure on the plate to perform, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
It's overnight pressure too. I think when you're one of
these superstars like in bat Day and Cane.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
You're growing grow gross.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
Tim Bay's waking up one week and he's more famous
in the entire New Zealand cricket team.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
So what's going on. It's hilarious.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Yeah, I was thinking. I was thinking does this help
him or does this not help him? Like people are
going to be watching him more, but he's going to
feel like if I don't perform now there's four million
people watching me, I might get more slander. He might
more Hey, you know, you never know, so you know,
hopefully it does go well for the maybe you'll get
some brand news. You know, if all else fails, it
could just become an influencer like me and it'll be
all right, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
So he's all sweet.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
It's a sweet He's all sweet.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Anyway, John, thanks for joining us. We'll catch you on
the next one and hopefully, you know, you'll have some
updates for us on what's going on down there. Man,
We appreciate you joining us again.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
John.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
Thanks, I'll take care. I'll touch base on the Vancouver,
my friend Turk.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
We'll see you soon.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
That's all from the failed football up. Will be back
in a few days or so. Make sure you're following
the show wherever you listen or wherever you're watching us.
I'm only takes. I'll see you next time.
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