Larry Henry Jr. Interview: CONCACAF Gold Cup, Union, MLS, and More - 07/07/25

Larry Henry Jr joins Sean Brace on the Daily Ticket talking:

• USMNT losing the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final to Mexico
• Union
• MLS
• And more!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Number one on your car radio preset hand the new
and improved iheard radio WDA Yes and WD two seven
three D Philadelphia is Fox Sports Radio The Gambler. Oh,

(00:28):
it's good to be back. Yes, indeed, fun weekend. Hopefully
everybody had themselves a great one. Of course, no injuries
out there with all those fireworks. I'll tell you what,
my firework display didn't really hit. The kids are a
year older. You know, you gotta step your game up.
The Lowe's Costco Mix didn't really hit like it did

(00:50):
last year. I will say, though, it's not my neighborhood, right.
I brought him to a friend's house on fourth of July,
and I'm not signing a waiver. That's I'm not gonna
like the neighborhood on fired. That's my issue, right, Like,
I can't look them in the eye and say, no,
I got this under control. No, no, no, no, that's
not how fireworks work. So if you want me to

(01:10):
buy the big boom booms, the ones that go up
in the air that everyone goes oh ah like, oh,
that's it, you're discretion, my friend. But for me, the
Low's Costco Mix is always a good one, right, dude,
I spelled one hundred bucks out of them. They were good,
had a bunch Thursday and Friday. But Friday, man, those
kids were like, dude, what's I was like, damn man,

(01:33):
that hurt. That hurt? I kid, well, we had a
lot of fun. Those boom booms are expensive, that's for sure.
Maybe if I would have put a couple of hard
earned dollars on Mexico last night, I could afford a
couple more. I kid, I would never do that. However,
Mexico was to play, and you know what, Larry, Larry,
heret did you enjoining us right now? I felt like
more and more as the postgame show rolled on, like

(01:55):
that was like the big takeaway for me. It was like, oh, well, dude,
this was a lock stock and barrel slam dunk from Mexico.
They were not going to lose that game. It's the
way everybody was approaching it after they after team USA lost,
and I'm like, well, damn, I didn't view it as such.
I thought US men's national team had a good shot
at winning that game. Of course, it was a tight game,
but Mexico did end up winning. Your thoughts on that

(02:17):
game yesterday, Leary.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, with tough Sean. Good to be back with you, buddy. Yeah,
it was a tough game. I mean when you're coming
into it, right. The US men's national team had won
five in a row to get to that point. They
had the two tough losses before the World the Gold Cup,
excuse me, against tougher competition, and then they get in
the Gold Cup play. They're rolling along. They're beating teams
that you would expect them to beat, whether it's the

(02:41):
A team or the B team or even maybe even
the C team. They get up, they go up against Mexico,
who they normally see in the Gold Cup final or
the Nation's League final, or wherever competition they're playing, and
they get off to a really good start. Chris Richards
has a good goal to bash the burhalter with the
assist and the grooven, and then all of a sudden,

(03:02):
kind of the wheels came off. Ral Jomenez scores a
goal kind of out of nowhere to tie it up,
and then Edson Albarez scores with I think twelve minutes
to go. They had to go to var to check
to see if he was on side, and he was.
Alex Freeman, the young right back was keeping him on
side on the play, and Mexico ends up winning the
Gold Cup for the second edition in a row. I

(03:24):
think going into it, I didn't really like the postgame
comments about that Mexico was a sure lock, that they
that no matter if the US had their eight, you know,
they had their B team in there. But you know,
you still gotta go out there and play. You still
have to go out and believe in these guys as
the fan base. So I didn't really like that. Afterwards,

(03:46):
I know a lot of people were making a big
deal about what could have been a penalty to the
US in the second half. I think it was a
handball in the box where the Mexico defender had fell
down and kind of like grabbed the ball a little bit.
They looked at the rules, obviously there was no penalty
a teams. A lot of people were making a big
deal about that. Me not so much. I still think
they had chances to win that game. They didn't really

(04:08):
take advantage of it, and they lost. And I look
at this way, Sean, I mean, it would have been
great to get the win, get the losing out now,
because this time next year, we need this team to
make a deep run and show that the quality that
we have is something to be you know, be reckoned with.
And you know, I know it stinks they lost the

(04:28):
Gold Cup final, but there's bigger fish to fry in
terms of next year.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, is that what's next for this team? Larry Like,
that's it. There's no more games for a team USA
over these next twelve months. It's World Cup training and
then June. I saw ESPN flash flash the schedule up.
We already know where we're playing and who we're playing
come next June. As far as the World Cup, Is
that correct? There's no more games for US Ben's national team.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, it's just friendlies here on out. They have two
friendlies already locked in in September against South Korea and
against Japan. They faced Japan before the twenty twenty two
World Cup and they had lost that match. Japan's a
good team, really well drilled. I think South Korea is
no joke either, with some young men the Tottenham star.

(05:15):
So those will be two tough matches and then they're
gonna have what's you know, reported to be matches would
be in October, November and then early next year in
preparation for the World Cup and then I think you
have a window in late May early June when that
European season ends. So yeah, it's all friendlies here on out,

(05:36):
probably I think, at the most ten matches. But this
is really it for them. The Gold Cup was their
last competitive tournament before the World Cup, and now here
it's about fine tuning that roster, getting the chemistry going again.
Hopefully everyone stays healthy, which is a big ask because
we have, you know, three hundred plus days to the
World Cup. But overall, I mean, this is Potzatino's money

(05:57):
time in term of determining the roster, and this is
money time for the players to kind of get their
heads on straight and know that this is it. This
is it until the World Cup.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
Any concern about the coach? Is there anything that jumped
out you over these past few games, the Gold Cup run.
It's been a short time that he has been the
head coach, Don't get me wrong, but is there any
concerns whatsoever that maybe this might be a little bit
too big, even for as great as a coach he
is with his resume, But like you know, the fact is,
we're talking about USA and expectations and it's not easy

(06:29):
and of course it's definitely not easy when you don't
have your best players out there. But any concerns whatsoever
over these last couple of games.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Yeah, I'm not too concerned. I mean, I know, obviously
there's been you know, a lot in the media. I
think it was a couple of weeks ago that you know,
that report came out that he had supposed Pachettino's supposedly
been in line for the Brentford position in the Premier League.
I think it was an outlet in Ireland that had
reported that he interviewed for the job. He didn't. Obviously,
Brentford win a different direction and hired their coach, and

(06:58):
the Pachettino got asked about it and he had said that,
you know, my commitments with the national team, I never
interviewed with them, which is obviously good to hear. But overall,
I think, you know, this is it's a big turnaround
for him. He didn't really start coaching with the national
team till last October, had the Nation's league window in
the fall, had the Gold Cup, not really a lot
of competitive tournaments in terms of until before the World Cup.

(07:22):
So yeah, overall, I think it's obviously he wants to
try to change as much as he can. I know
he's talked about the fan base and we need the
fans behind the players. Last night pretty much seemed like
a home game for Mexico. I think it was played
in Houston, so obviously the proximity there is one thing,
but uh, the Mexico travel fan fans travel, So yeah,

(07:42):
I'm not too concerned. I just think, you know, the roster,
we got to get these guys back in camp together,
get them rolling again. I know, right now in the
summer it's tough because you have guys that aren't there,
Christian Polisic, so many others. You have guys that are
linked with potential club moves and and you know, maybe
their mind is on that. But overall, I'm not too concerned.
If they go into twenty twenty six losing all their

(08:05):
friendlies at the tail end of the year, I'll be
a little bit more concerned. But as of right now,
like I said, it would have been good to get
the Gold Cup. But again, I think there's bigger fish
to fry in terms of, you know, making a deep
run at the World Cup, because that's really what it's
all about. Hosting it in your backyard.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
That's right. We got Larry Henry Jr. We're going to
talk a little soccer here on a Monday after last
night's big game. Of course, it's front and center for
everybody right now. Larry shot me a text. He's like, Yo,
I'm ready this week. I'm like, dude, let's go today.
I need you today. Let's talk about the US men's
national team right now. It is intriguing though, because I
did see the schedule pop up on ESPN earlier this morning,

(08:41):
and you pull it up, it's a little difficult to
read and understand. But you have Philly front center. Any
idea who we have in Philadelphia?

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Not at this time. I know obviously there are six
matches coming up in Philadelphia, one of them being the
Round of sixteen on fourth of July, which I know
I think people are excited about. It's a potential USA
England showdown like it like we had in the World
Cup in twenty twenty two. I'm not so sure where
the US will be going in the knockout round. I know,

(09:10):
I think they're slated to play out West. Yeah, I
think two games in California. If I'm not mistaken, I
believe one in Seattle, which is obviously you know, it's
a bummer for us because you know, you and I
we we support the national team. We want to be there.
Philly obviously did a great jold with the Club World Cup,
and I think the fans would have came out. But yeah,

(09:30):
so the drawl end up taking place in December once
World Cup qualifying is pretty much done. I know several
you know, federations still have to go through that this
summer and in the fall. So but yeah, it'll be exciting, man.
I'm obviously I was. I was googling it today as well.
When's the draw, win's the draw? Who are we going
to get in Philadelphia? And I think overall it's going

(09:51):
to be a pretty well attended crowd for those matches.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, we're gonna talk a little Club World Cup too,
because we're down to the final four, which has been
featured a lot in Philadelphia. Now, correct me if I'm wrong.
We are hosting, so the hosting nation automatically is in. However,
my question to you would be, remember we didn't make
the World Cup that one time. It was just brutal
if Team USA was not hosting and they had to

(10:16):
earn their way in. Would we have any issues this
year in your.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
Opinion, I don't think we would have. I know there
are still some pretty good teams right now in CONCACAF
World Cup qualifying. I think it went from round one
all the way to Round four, and obviously the bigger
the nation, the later you get to kind of pop
into that. And there's still some good teams right now.
I know there's some good groups that they've impaired together

(10:40):
for the fourth round. Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, ceraname a
lot of good teams in there that could obviously pull
a shock. I mean, we saw what happened in twenty eighteen.
Nobody expected the US to lose in Trinidad and Tobago
and all the results go against them, and sure enough,
rewatching the Christian Ballistic documentary on Paramount, there's brutal, brutal

(11:04):
moments of you know, not making the World Cup. But no,
I don't think they'd have any trouble making it through
this pathway right now. And I think they're maybe a
little bit fortunate, because, like I said, you never know
what happens in qualifying. A team could pull one upset
like Trinidad did you know seven years ago now? But yeah,
I think US would have no problem, and I think
Canada and Mexico would have no problem as well.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
All right, Larry, let's stay with the US men's national
team and talk a little bit about the expectations now
over these next few months with only a couple of
friendlies to have in front of them. You know, is
there a player or two that you think did enough
this past weekend, this past Gold Cup run that has

(11:47):
elevated himself locked them in. And then on top of that,
are we talking about anybody that's a difference maker besides
Christian Pulisic, who else out there did enough as far
as the Gold Cup run or appealed to you or
or hearing of reading that will have an impact on
this team come World Cup next year.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
Starting with the guys he said about locks, I think
Chris Richards is one of them. The center back. He
scored two goals. I think he was kind of a
shoe in already to be on that roster. He's I
think going to be the face of the center back
corps for years to come. I know Tim Reim is
obviously still in the picture, and he's obviously older now,
UM's forty years old. I'm still playing at a consistent level.

(12:30):
But I think Chris Richards one guy who locked himself in.
He had a really good Gold Cup. Tim Reim I
think will be there as well. Whether or not he's
going to be a starter, we'll see, but I just
think his experience in the locker room and on the
field is important to have, especially in a World Cup.
Those two guys, Tyler Adams in midfield, I think he's
a shoeing as well. He's the captain right now with

(12:51):
Christian Polistic not being there, and I think he should
be the captain when Christian Polistic comes back, just because
Tyler Adams brings that captain mentality of he's a tough midfielder.
He's gonna work his butt off, he's gonna win tackles,
he's gonna get in your face. He's probably gonna get
a yellow card every match or every other match, but
again he's that's what you want. You want that grit
in midfield. So I think those are three guys that

(13:13):
have really just locked themselves up in the Gold Cup.
Some guys I think that definitely boosted their stock. Malec
Tilman had three goals and to assist. I think he's
a guy that we could see maybe in that polistic role,
or at least helping in that polistic role in the
fall and in next spring. Diego Luna I thought had
a good Gold Cup. He was pretty quiet against Mexico,

(13:34):
but overall I thought they did a pretty good job.
And then Sebastian Burholter, I think he was a guy
I recently did an article for SBI on kind of
the winners and losers of the Gold Cup, and those
were my three winners. Was Tilman, Luna, and Burhalter. Burholter
had to assist really good service. We could baby see
him as that set piece guy in the future. I

(13:55):
don't think we're gonna see Christian Bilistic that much more
on set piece duty, on corner kicks. Things just really
haven't worked out too much. So those three guys I said,
I think reim Richards Adams locked themselves in. Tillman, Luna,
and Burhalter definitely boosted their stock, but I think overall,

(14:15):
I mean that that's pretty much it. Some young guys
Freeman I thought did pretty well. Alex Freeman, Max Arstin
at left back. For those guys, I think they need
more of a backup role or even a third string
role at their positions. But yeah, I think in the
next you know, six months or so, it's gonna be
important to see because, like you say, Christian Polistic is

(14:36):
the key guy, but we need more than that. We
need more goal scorers. We need a Ricardo Peppie to
stay healthy. We need a Philer and Ballagan to stay healthy.
We need Gea Reina to get back on the map.
I mean that guy has has kind of fallen off
yet they only played twelve minutes at the Club World
Cup Weston McKinney. We need him back being at his best.
So yeah, it's gonna be a lot of questions I

(14:58):
think for Pozzatina to answer the next six.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
Months, very intriguing, very intriguing names you're just throwing out there,
and it's you know, they are deep right, Like it's
I want to have expectations next year. I do, and
we'll see. Of course we're all gonna be gung ho
and fired up, but we'll see what that roster looks like.
How many Aaronson's will be on next year's roster In
your opinion.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
I think just Brendan I really think just Brendan and
that's no knock to Paxton. I think Paxson is going
to be a really he already is a talented player.
I think he's done well in his two loan spills
in the Netherlands. Now he's going to go back with
I'm Track Frankfurt and hopefully be a consistent player that
SAT squad in the Bundesliga. But yeah, I think Brendan

(15:41):
Aronson brings a little bit more in terms of his
defensive pressing, his his his work rate. He has that
experience over Paxton, so yeah, it definitely was different though
to see Brandon Aronson not playing maybe as much as
we used to see him under the Greg Burholter area
era playing regularly. He was kind of coming off the
bench through this tournament. But I think it's gonna be

(16:03):
an important user for him. Leeds United just promoted back
to the Premier League. Can he stay there? Can he
be part of that squad? He was there the last
time Leeds were up, So some big months ahead for
him and also for Paxton as well.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
Matt Freeze the starting goalie next June.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
Oh, that's a tough one. I was really impressed with
Matt Freeze just stepping in this summer. Obviously, that shootout
against Costa Rica, he did exceptionally well, made some big saves.
Thought he made some important saves last night against Mexico.
The goalkeeper position is tough because it's you know, I
think Matt Freeze has definitely put his foot his shoe
in the mix in terms of the goalkeepers. Matt Turner,

(16:43):
you know what kind of goes on with him this summer,
whether or not he's going to make the move to
France from Crystal Palace. If he can play consistently, maybe
you can get himself back into the number one mix.
Zach Stefan with the Colorado Rapids, could he be in
there as well. I still think Turner finds a way
to get that number one job back just because that experience.

(17:03):
He's older, a little bit older than Matt Freeze by
a few years. He has that World Cup experience. I
think he finds a way to get it done. But
I think Matt Freeze would do just as well in
that position. But obviously, you know, with the winner schedule
and Matt Freeze not going to be playing in because
due to MLS schedule being off at that point, maybe

(17:23):
that kind of kind of hurts his chances in the
sense of maybe a Matt Turner playing more regularly.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
Who the hell is John Tolkien? That guy popped up
on my screen yesterday, Like, look at this guy. He's
a defender. He's on the back line. He's five to seven.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, you like that haircut he's got, don't you.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
They're like, who the hell is this guy? But you know,
I understood the roster when we were putting it together,
and I'm gonna see plenty of guys they have no
idea who they are. But I was surprised that he's
a defender left back.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
He's a left back. So John Tolkien's a pretty neat
story because he came through the Red Bulls Academy's a
New Jersey guy, played as a young player for so
seasons with the Red Bulls, probably not like too well
by the Union fan base for those years and at
up in Harrison, but and then then ended up earning
a move over to the Bundesliga with Holstein keel Uh.

(18:11):
They unfortunately got relegated this past spring. So kind of hem,
he's another name like a Matt Turner. What's next for him?
Is he going to stay in the second division. Is
he gonna earn a move elsewhere? Had the privilege to
talk to him a couple of months ago, Uh, going
into that last game of the season. Uh, and he
sounded positive that he was going to be a Holstein
Keel player for next season. Yeah, he's a talented player.

(18:34):
He likes to try some things. I don't think he's
beating Anthony Robinson for that left back job anytime soon,
but he's definitely a guy I think that's gonna be
in the mix for that number two spot.

Speaker 1 (18:44):
Would have been nice to even it up. Yes, Jay
gets some extra soccer, but it did not happen. Well,
Mexico wins second Gold Cup in a row. Some people
say it's not a big deal. Some say it is
when you lose to Mexico. Whatever, we got to roll
on they or fish to fry. As Larry H. Junior said,
he joins us right now. All right, let's go ahead
and shift gears. Stay in the world of soccer. Let's

(19:05):
talk about the home team, Philadelphia Union now on a
losing streak. But at the same time, it's funky because
they're playing these matches without their best players out there again.
That was a very winnable game. I'll give you the
the talking point from the timeline. It seems like the
Union are really good getting the ball of field and
all they're doing is just swinging in the box and

(19:27):
hoping for the best. Is that what you're seeing? Of course,
there are some numbers that are backing up again. I
don't think that that exactly. It tells the full story.
But when you do have the man advantage, you gotta
win that game, no if and spots about it. They
did and they ended up coming up short against Nashville
on Saturday. So your thoughts as far as the way
that the Union are playing again, they've been kick a button,

(19:48):
taking names. They were in first place and running for
the shield all that. But you know, like I said,
there's some of that conversation on the timeline.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Your thoughts the Larry, I mean, yeah, it was a
tough loss playing against a good Nashville side. I remember
last week talking with you going into that game. I
thought it was gonna be a tough game just for
the fact that they're there. They were missing guys. They're
missing Nate Harriel, they're missing Quinn Sullivan. Those are two
very important guys on this team, but you still have
to play. MLS continues to play through these tournament schedules,

(20:20):
which I never understand why. And yeah, Nashville gets a
red card right after the hour mark. They get a
really really late penalty kick winner from Honey mooktar Uh
and get the shutout win. But looking at the Union,
I mean, I thought they had chances. They had two
really good chances in that match. They again, they were

(20:40):
rotating guys. You know, you had Chris Donovan in their start,
and you had Cavin Sullivan making his first MRS start,
you know, but you still had some experience as well.
You had Kai Wagner, you had Luke Getcha midfield, Jocks
in midfield, Andre Blake, Internet Gleuzness in the back. So
there was opportunities to win that game. Unfortunately, that was

(21:02):
their second loss to Nashville in the season, which could
you know, hopefully not come back to bite them in
terms of a head to head when if there's two
meet in the playoffs. But yeah, I think they're gonna,
you know, get back rolling once they get these guys
acclimated back into the squad. It's a short week though,
because they have they have the US Open Cup against
the Red Bulls quarterfinal coming up this week, and then

(21:24):
they have the Red Bulls on short rest in league
play next weekend, so it's a big week for them.
I know they had back to back losses against two
good teams in Columbus and Nashville. It was the first
back to back defeat to the season dating back to
last October. But overall I expect them to get back
in But I would like to see a little bit
more like you said that whole swinging the ball into

(21:44):
the box. I would like to see somebody try to take,
you know, take a guy on make something happen. And
I think with Quinn Sullivan coming back, you get a
little bit of that. His won the one on one
abilities and his ability to make things happen things happen.
But overall, yeah, big we for them because obviously two
back to back losses might be in the back of
their mind. You want to make the semifinals of the

(22:05):
Open Cup and two very big matches against your biggest
rival in New York Red Bulls.

Speaker 1 (22:10):
So the Open Cup is Wednesday, correct.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
Wednesday for the Union in the in the Open Cup
at home, so luckily they'll be at super Park. Things
will be you know, things will be rocking down there
as it always is with the Red Bulls come into town,
and then you got the league match coming up on
the weekend as well well.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
The fifteen year old young gun, I don't even know Cavin.
Will Cavin get another start Wednesday?

Speaker 2 (22:36):
I think he will. I mean he's obviously he started
in the Open Cup earlier this season against Indy eleven.
I know the Red Bulls are a different kind of
challenge than a USL side in India eleven. But you know,
I think proudly Cornell trust him. He put him in
the starting lineup yesterday, played last week as well against Columbus,
So yeah, and I know again it's gonna be the

(22:59):
kind of maybe some pains of times he's fifteen years old,
but you know sometimes the fifteen year old players can
come up with something spectacular. So yeah, I expect him
to start again midweek, maybe not on the weekend, but
definitely for the Open Cup.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
What do you say to somebody about Cavin if they're
asking you for an honest assessment so far? Again, I know,
and they throw that caveat at you where it's like, yeah,
he's fifteen, Yes, but does he belong? Is he shown
you flashes? Does he look like he doesn't you need
to be out there at this time? Is it being forced?

(23:34):
What would you say to somebody if they asked you
that question right now?

Speaker 2 (23:37):
I don't think it's being forced. I think he definitely belongs.
I know, again, being fifteen, it's everything. It's kind of
coming at a little bit more faster speed at his
age in terms of just the play and the style
play that you're going up against. But he definitely does
some good things. He's not afraid to dribble upfield with
the ball and make things happen in terms of linking

(23:57):
up passes. I know he had a yellow card against Ashville,
you know, which to me isn't means he isn't afraid
to kind of stick his foot in and being among
the challenges. You know, he's a smart kid. I think
he's going to do really good things in terms of
his future. But yeah, I think he definitely belongs for sure.
I know they like to balance him with Union two

(24:18):
just to get playing time. He scored in MLS next pro.
Obviously there's a big jump when you go from there
to MLS. But he definitely belongs for sure, and I
think as a young player, getting that trust like he
did with you know, with Jim Curtin and with Bradley Carnell,
I think is at his age that just does your
confidence like boosted a whole other level.

Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah, it's great to see him out there. It's a
talking point, but on in all, we just want to
see some balls in up in the back of the
net and the Union win, right, I don't care who's
out there. But again I'm trying to be fair about
it too. I'm not trying to say anything other than
what's facts. And he hasn't done it yet, but the
moments that I have seen him out there, he does
look really good, and my mind just automatically goes to

(24:59):
what is he going to look like two years from now?
You know, it's probably not gonna be in a Union uniform,
but all no, like he is going to have some
superstar potential and we'll see. Man, it's gonna be a
lot of fun to watch him grow over these years.
But again, I know that that end is not going
to be in a Union uniform. It's gonna be across season,
much deserved. We'll see what happens there, all right, So

(25:20):
big week for the Philadelphi Union. We'll wrap things up
with the Club World Cup. We're down to the final four,
Larry Henry Junior games being played tomorrow. So FIFA Club
World Cup. We got Chelsea and Fluminese from Brazil. Fluminense
I add that too, and then of course PSG and
Real Madrid, which is a banger of a game right there.

(25:42):
Both games actually no excuse me, one tomorrow one on
Wednesday here, so Real Madrid and PSG kicking off at
three pm. I'll be doing a show like this, watching
the team or watching the TV. There your thoughts on
the final four, and I guess what I would say
is should we expect an upset tomorrow between Fluminasel and Chelsea.

Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yeah, tomorrow is gonna be I think both match is
gonna be really, really good. Chelsea. I was able to
be at the match lest on fourth of July down
at the Link they were able to be Paul Maris
the Brazilian team, and now they get to play another
Brazilian team in Fluse. But I think Chelsea will definitely
be favored. I'm not so sure flu has enough to

(26:29):
get get past Chelsea in terms of just overall talent.
I think defensively they've been really good. Thiago Silva is
over forty years old now, former Chelsea legend, playing in
his native country of Brazil. He's had a really good tournament.
But overall, I think Chelsea's gonna have a little too
much offensive firepower in terms of Cole Palmer scoring uh

(26:50):
In on fourth of July, Joe Joel Pedro had a
really good performance off the bench. Overall, I just think
Chelsea's gonna have a little too much in the tent.
They're gonna advance, and then the second semi final, like
you said, that's gonna be the one everyone's eyes are
gonna be on. That's how the bracket has just been
pretty stacked in terms of the amount of competition with Byron,

(27:11):
PSG and Real Madrid. I think I said it last week.
I'm still going with it. I think PSG is gonna
go and end up winning the whole thing. They're the
igning Champions League winners. They've kind of bounced back from
a disappointing loss to Bodafogo in the group stage, but
have have done well to advance in the last couple
of rounds. So I like them to beat Real Madrid.

(27:34):
I know Real Madrid's got new players in Trent Alexander Arnold,
some others as well, Jude Bellingham. That you know, it's
Real Madrid. They have stars everywhere. But overall I think
PSG is gonna end up beating them and then beating
Chelsea in the final next weekend.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
Plus one forty right now, PSG to win it all
and of course, like I said, with that matchup against
Real Madrid, if they do win that game, have a
pretty good shot to win the FIFA Club World Cup.
Wins that Championship game Sunday, all right, quickly on this one,
w wen on a sad note, I don't again. I
you know, Manchester United stunk so I Fairweather van died

(28:13):
a little that didn't pay too much close attention to
the EPL. Take me through the player that passed away
in Liverpool. What the hell happened? Was it a fast
car that he crashed in?

Speaker 2 (28:24):
Yeah? It was obviously sad news going into the weekend.
Diego Jota, the Portuguese international who plays for Liverpool, sadly
got in a car crash last weekend with his brother
Andre Silva. They were in Spain. I believe they were
out there just because it's the off season. Liverpool is
not in the Club World Cup. They were out there,

(28:46):
they were driving. It sounded to lake after midnight. I
don't know from the reports. It sounds like a tire
blue on the car they went off the road. Yeah,
it was really obviously, really sad. I remember waking up.
I think it was Ony or Friday. I remember waking
up and and you know, I'm gonna chat with with
my buddies that play Fantasy Premier League, and somebody shared

(29:07):
the article and I'm thinking like that this has to
be uh, this has to be like just made up,
you know, how does this happen? Yeah, and yeah, obviously
there's very sad. Diego Joe To was a key player
for Liverpool, key player for Portugal. Was recently married. I
think he was married only a week. Yeah, three kids,

(29:27):
three kids, my heart, you know, our hearts go out
obviously to the families. It was really really sad. It
puts a lot of things into perspective, right, I mean,
you know, we're not guaranteed, you know, anything, And I
was just really sad to see I know, he really
tore it up when he was part of Wolves roster
made the move to Liverpool. Was one you know, won
the Premier League this season, won the Nation's League with

(29:50):
Portugal in June, and then you know, gets married and
then all of a sudden, you know, it's just something
sad like that happens. And I've seen all the all
the players that have know played in the Club World
Cup recently, the Portuguese players. I think it was Ruben
Neves who was playing patro Netto all coming out with
jerseys with his name on it. I think as soon

(30:10):
as all Halal got eliminated, Ruben Neves flew to Portugal
to beat to to pay his respects. I think Christiano
Ronaldo recently was was the latest to go out there. Yeah,
it's just really sad man. I think you're twenty eight
years old and really a blossoming star in the Premier League,
part of that Liverpool team, and just really sad. And
it was definitely hard to kind of take all that

(30:32):
in over the weekend for sure, because like I said,
you see that news and you don't want to believe it.
But yeah, definitely sad.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
Yeah, man, not good, not good either way. It happened.
Terrible news and yeah, I saw a lot of people
affected by that, so obviously he was a hell of
a player. So again, thoughts are with that family. Damn,
that's terrible, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough news right there.
All right, I said we're gonna end on a sad note.
Very unfortunate though, But Larry, great job across the board. Man,
you are the best when it comes to the world

(31:01):
of soccer, getting us caught up and everything we need
to know. And we got those friendlies coming up for
the US men's national team, a roster to fill out.
But the Philadelphia Union shining right now, need them to
get back to their winning ways in a great week
to do so with the Red Bull, not once but
two times this week, Larry, great stuff. We'll continue to
follow you on all things socials. You'll be covering the
games this week. Where can we find you?

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Yeah, I actually I won't be there live, but yeah,
you can follow me on Twitter. L Henry's here one
nine and over at SBI Soccer and then the athletic
got some big things coming up. Hopefully see be on
duty for Manchester United's trip to the US in the
coming weeks. I know, I know, you'll be front and
center at that match.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Hang on, they're coming. I know they were coming. I
thought it would already know it did it did not
happen yet.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
Where are they playing at July twenty six, the last
Saturday of the month, they're playing up at MetLife against
I think it's West ham But I'll be up there
for both matches. The Premier League Summer Series. They've done that,
you know, the last couple of years. Philadelphia hosted it,
which was pretty cool a couple of years ago, and.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah, Manchester United was not in Philly though, that's the issue. Yeah,
I might go to that game. You never know, you
never know. I forgot it was at MetLife. I thought
they were playing at the Big House or South Carolina
or something.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
Yeah, they're playing, So they're playing three matches while they're here.
They're gonna play at MetLife. I believe they're playing in
Chicago Soldier Field and then also Atlanta. I think in
Mercedes Bend seems to be a big hot spot now.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah, look, you know it's a fun game. I went
and saw them play Barcelona way back with Suarez, Messi
and neaymar On like a hot July down in d
c and those guys all played pretty good minutes like
they all played the first half. It was Pogbo's out there.
I want to say this lotdown was on that team too,
maybe forget, but from surprising the Barcelona perspective. All three

(33:03):
of those guys were over there, so I thought that
was pretty cool. Nice work by them on that one.
We'll see, we'll see. Maybe I'll get up there, Larry,
you're the best man. Enjoy the rest of the week.
Go union will catch up next week, sir.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
All right, thanks a lot, Sean, I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
Buddy, mom Man, there he is once again, Larry Henry
Junior on the Gambler stream. I'm late for a break.
We'll take that on right here on the other side.
We'll come back. We'll talk a little bit more about
the Phillies. Take a look at some of the numbers
that matter tonight's game against the San Francisco Giants. Plus
I got some other odds and ends I want to
get to before we get out of here. We do.
We didn't really hit on the All Star selections too much,

(33:37):
but there was an intriguing way that Clayton Kershaw was selected,
and I'm wondering whether or not we need to add
that to his resume or not. Again, some of this
stuff just gets, you know, elevated, and I don't know why. Also,
do want to bring up the fact that we do
have some PGA tour stops coming our way these next
two weeks of they're in the UK and it's gonna

(34:00):
be a lot of fun to watch both to them.
So we'll take a look at some of those odds
as well, from the Genesis Scottish Open and the Open Championship. Unfortunately,
the fourth and final major of the twenty twenty five season. Ouch,
it's came and went man fast daily ticket rolling out
more after this