Reign Weekly World Cup Edition Episode 2 - Keith Costigan

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hi, everybody. Back to Rain Weekly.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Keilly Donning here with Laura Shott and we are joined
by a very special guest. You know, we've worked together
on Sounders FC broadcasts before they got moved to Apple TV,
and who is now a primary voice on Apple TV,
a major League soccer broadcast, Keith cost Again. Keith, Welcome
to the pod.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Thank you, thanks, thanks for having me Keeley, and I'm
nice to virtually meet you. Laura. Excited to excited chat
with you. We don't get to see each other as often, Kiley,
but we certainly when we get to reconvene at Loominfield,
it's always fun to see you.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
I know what is with you guys? Not you and
Mo not doing enough Sounders names? What is the deal
with that?

Speaker 3 (00:44):
I don't know. It's funny. We'll talk with some people
say we do a lot of l A f C games,
which I don't know if that's true. As well, we
just go where they send us. Man, that's it. We
do as are told.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Speaking of doing as you're told, I know that nothing
will obviously beat your time with Sounders, but take us
through a little bit about what it's like being an
Apple TV commentator in her Major League Soccer.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
It's I mean, first of all, really lucky to be
involved in it. I think anybody anytime we get the
chance to talk about the game we love and you know,
get a paycheck for it, you have to be happy.
I mean, it's good. We get our schedule, you know,
well in advanced so we get to travel to some
great cities. Myself and Moll being friends for a long
time and we kind of had an inkling that we

(01:31):
might get put together. So that's always good because when
you get to a city and you're with some of
the staunches the colleague, that's a friend. You enjoy the
you know, going out for a meal, those kind of
things as well. Yeah, I mean the typical work week
for us, you know, we'll start on Monday in terms
of prep and watching the previous games of the opposition,

(01:52):
start watching the local you know, media access and stuff
that's that's made available, and then on Thursdays we generally
have our our days with the coaches, our days with
the staff where we chat with the coaches, get their
opinions on the games, et cetera. And then Friday's travel
Saturday game, and then and then suddenly back home so

(02:14):
it's I know it's people will be like, man, you're
lucky you only work one day week, But you guys
will know that's not true. It's it's a full weekly process.
But it's definitely it's definitely a lot easier than other
people's schedule, I will say that. But it's it's a
lot of work, and we certainly enjoy doing it. All.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Right, here's a here's a hot question. Who is your
favorite coach in those production meetings? It's obviously obviously well.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
No, Schmet's is like Smets will have the background up
of me and.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
Moe on those calls.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
It's so funny.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yes, how can you not love them? Yeah? I learned
a lot from from Smets because I love the coach
inside of the game too, just as a as a person,
as a human being, like what he is and how
he taps into getting the most out of people. So yeah,
Smet's is my favorite. There's absolutely no doubt. That's not
a bias. It's just I enjoy it because you ask

(03:12):
a question, he'll give you the answer. My next favorite,
oh man, that's tough. I mean, let me tr I
think I like Bruce because I think Bruce is everyone
to be like, oh, man, Bruce is difficult. But I
like when when you get the answer from Bruce, you
feel like it's like getting your friend who doesn't laugh

(03:32):
very often to laugh out loud. You know, you know
that friend that says that's funny versus and then you
finally get him. You're like, man, I got Bruce to
give us an answer. So Bruce is good, he asked Rosens,
and Vancouver is really good. And Phil before he left
Portland was was was always very honest and you know

(03:53):
sometimes like he would never sugarcoat. He would never try
tell you something was great if it wasn't. So those
are the coach which is that you know, I enjoy
working with had a great relationship with Steve Taronndola before
he left as well. I think Greg Vanni Greg will
be you know, Greg is so in depth with his answers.
Greg went from winning MLS Cup to not qualifying for playoffs,

(04:16):
and his demeanor never changed, Like in terms of I
feel like you talk to some people and they try
slightly put in well, you know, we need more support,
you know, and you know what that it translates to
something about Greg never does that, Like everything is about
now let's play this game like. He's very level and
I've learned a lot about how you handle adversity and

(04:38):
that from him. So those would be my favorites. If
I didn't name someone, it doesn't mean I didn't like them.
Those are Those are the ones that I enjoy like
interacting with when we have them on a call.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
I was gonna say, I'm not going to ask you
who your least favorite are because you're a working and
we're not gonna We're not gonna put He's not.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Gonna ask, But I am Keith. That's what I That
was my next question.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
I'm just kidding, but I am intrigued by your background
because we share some time in Portland.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
I know that you were a high level player.

Speaker 4 (05:09):
I know that you coach, and actually I was curious
and learning more about you if you continue to coach
and what your involvement is on that side.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah, the coaching side is everything for me because you
guys know, on the media side, it's so weird. There's
no like rankings, there's no league table. Someone will come
up to you and say love you as a commentator.
I think you're the best, and you go great, and
then someone can say they don't say it to your face,
but like on Twitter or something, they might go, I

(05:38):
hate you as a commentator, you suck and it's like,
all right, well, you know how about it, Like there's
no there's no way to quantify what we do. It
literally is just opinion based. So yeah, I still run
an MLS next academy, So we play through all the
ages from U twelve through you nineteen in the in

(06:00):
the same division as l A f C l A
Galaxy are you fourteens and fifteens generally go out and
train with Angel City as well and provide opposition for them.
And we have a USL two team in the summer,
which I really love because it's college players from all
over the country will come in. Last year, we got
knocked out in the quarterfinals to Ballard. Ballard up there. Yeah,

(06:24):
so we lost to one to Ballard, So it was
it was it was fun going up against James Riley,
who was then the coach, who HAVE got a lot
of respect for and you know, obviously I wanted to win,
but I think I love James as well and told
them afterwards, you know, I wish him well to hopefully
go on and win it all. But that was a
great moment to be back up in the Seattle area
in the coaching side of things. So yeah, that's my

(06:47):
release to be around young players, to be to be around,
you know, the the growth process for for players becoming
men and becoming not not just soccer players, but you know,
providing upper tunities at college and then listening to them
talk about, Hey, I think I'm going to study this.
It's kind of really cool to see that journey and

(07:09):
I definitely enjoy that the wins and losses aspect of that,
which is you can quantify the work that you're doing
versus you know, the media side of things. So definitely
involved in that. Love it. And that's when I guess
when I say I learned a lot from the Gregs
and the and the Smetses of this world. I learned
a lot how to carry yourself, you know, through wins
and losses from those guys in particular. But yeah, that's

(07:32):
that's something I hope to do until until they drag
me off the field.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
I'm curious what qualities do you take, Like, is there
a difference between the keep casting and who's in front
of them in front of a camera with a microphone
doing broadcasting versus keep casting in the coach or do
you are you the same person no matter what you
don't compartmentalize and it's the same kind of skills for
both roles. Or are there sort of major differences?

Speaker 3 (07:56):
Wow, I don't know. I never even thought that's a
good question. I've never thought about that. I would hope
I'm the same person, because I think consistency with anybody
is important in life. I learned very early on, like
in terms of work of the players, the coach that
I wanted to be was one that provided a journey

(08:16):
and never got like wrapped up in one Hey we won,
never like manipulating the emotions of players. I'd seen coaches
who were like, you don't work, you don't show any heart,
and I'm like, what, Like I seen this guy talking
to these twelve year old girls once and he was
questioning their heart and I was like, I've never met
a twelve year old who doesn't have heart, Like I
didn't even understand it. So within that I try. I

(08:40):
try to present a journey, but really, honest, you know,
what do you want to do? I want to be
a pro Well, you have to put a lot of
work in but here's the pathway, and I think people
enjoy that honesty. Yeah, And I would say I would
say I'm pretty honest in the way i'm broadcast games.
You know, I had I had some people when I
was at Seattle say you need to be more of
a homer because you're honest when we're not playing well

(09:03):
or whatever, And I'm like, nobody likes someone that's dishonest,
like or you know, trying to sell something that's not there.
So I would say I definitely strive to be But
when I'm commentating, I'm basically presenting other people's journey, when
when I'm coaching, I'm a part of my player's journey.
So I definitely hope that I come across as the

(09:24):
same person in terms of always trying to find, you know,
whether it's good or bad, that the next steps and
the next past and that journey for either profession.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Well, there's no doubt.

Speaker 4 (09:35):
I mean with everything that you're doing that you're impacting
a lot of people on all sides of the game.
I mean, one thing that I'm really passionate about is
the youth side, and I love that you're involved in that.
And then you know, on this high level broadcasting side,
speaking through all these games and you know, teaching people,
bringing people along for the storylines, all that. One thing
that I find really interesting on the NWSL side is

(09:58):
that there are academies that are becoming more professional, you know,
are becoming not quite yet, but you know, kind of
on the verge of being mandated. What is it like
in those academies And you know, what puts a player
on a professional pathway versus a college pathway versus you know,
maybe there's a pathway that maybe isn't both of those,

(10:18):
But how do you balance those and how do you
evaluate those and how does how does that work?

Speaker 3 (10:22):
Well? I think making sure that you're you're honest with
the player in terms of the work ethic needed to
be on a certain pathway. Like we talk to players
about what is it you want? And invariably you'll have
you know, how many of you you guys want to
be a pro, And everybody puts their hand up in
the room and you go, okay, well, you know you

(10:43):
you and you haven't been at every practice over the
last month. In fact, you've only been at sixty percent.
So if you're taking a test and you're only at
sixty percent of the lectures, you can't get an A.
I always I always put it back to school, Like
you know, I so if you want to be that,
you have to be ever present. You have to be
top of the class. You have to be studying outside

(11:05):
of what we do. And I put it on them.
And the one line I always give players on that
pathway is I can never want it more than you.
And what I mean by that is I can't be
messaging a player and saying where are you? We have
a big game, This is a great opportunity for you.
This coach is going to be there. I learned very

(11:26):
early on that you can't do that because it eats
away at you and it hurts you mentally. And you've
just got to present a table let everybody know, here's
what's at stake, and then it's up to them to
get themselves there. So I definitely the school comparison is
one I use a lot of players, and the other
one is I tell them in school, I found that

(11:49):
you know, pretty easy to get a C. You know,
you do just enough. You can get a C. You
have to do a little bit more to get a B.
And it's a lot to get an a. That's the
same in soccer in terms of putting that work ethic
in and if you want that, it's going to be harder,
but the rewards are going to be a lot more.
So that's the way I kind of try presented to
the players, and they have to understand the pathways are

(12:11):
not always where they're going to want to end up.
So a player who says I'm going to be on
that professional pathway or want to be at sixteen and seventeen,
we present hey, look there is college options. You get
a chance to get an education, you get a chance
to continue playing in a higher environment. And you know,
if you present that in the right way, most are
receptive and understand that and take those opportunities. But it

(12:35):
is sad for me when you see a player who
has that ability not put to work in themselves and
kind of not take on the opportunities for college as well.
But sometimes that happens. You can't present that pathway to
everybody and have success with absolutely everybody. You just have
to continue to match the work rate of the ones

(12:56):
that are most intensive in terms of wanting to be
success full, and when they make it, it's really a
proud day. For everybody and one of the ones that don't. Yes,
it's sad, but at the end of the day, when
you look back, I feel comfortable justifying it by saying, well, look,
we presented everything we could to them and they just
didn't grasp those opportunities themselves. So yeah, it's it's it's

(13:18):
it's a tight rope to walk, but you know it's
it's it's great to be involved in our pathway for
so many young players.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
Speaking of work ethic, one of the guys in our
industry who works harder than anyone I've ever met, and
a dear old friend of yours keep is Casey Keller,
and he is being inducted into the Circle of Legends
for Seattle Sounders, which is beyond well earned. Give us
a little bit about your relationship with Casey and working
together with him and just what he's meant to soccer

(13:47):
in the Pacific Northwest.

Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yeah. I think like a World Cup is about to start,
and you know the games are going to be hosted
in Seattle, and I'm proud of someone who spent time
up there calling games. I tell everyone, like, it's going
to be incredible. Seattle will deliver. There's no doubt about it.
I can't even imagine what it's like for Casey, who
grew up in the region, who's represented the region at

(14:09):
the world's biggest stage, to then see it all come home.
So I think he's a great example of someone who
understands the work needed to be better. I remember him
telling me stories about going to clubs, and it didn't
matter where the club was in America. He'd goes to Europe.
He played in Bundesliga, of the league, in Premier League.

(14:31):
I mean that that's thinking three of the top leagues
in the world. But he said he'd arrive at a
club when he look at the goalkeeper and go, he's good. Yeah.
I'm going to have to put a lot of work
in to get him, but I'll do it versus another guy. Naw,
that guy's work ethink isn't very strong. I'm going to
get him quick. Like. He just had this mindset of
like what's next, how to be better, and it's infectious.

(14:54):
I never if I wanted a real opinion on something,
I'd ask Casey, you know, because I love that kind
of person. Casey's not going to tell you, Hey, Casey
had does his suit look Oh you're really going to
wear that, Keith, it looks terrible, like, okay, now I
know to get rid of it. He's honest and some
people can can take that in the wrong way, but

(15:15):
they're not They're not the kind of people that are
going to go to the very top. So I remember
sometimes we'd have goals that were great and he'd go
I still think the goalkeeper could get there and people
would be like, what do you mean. I'm like, well,
Casey as a goalkeeper expected to stop every shot, so
he's that competitive. But you know, in terms of an
ambassador for you know, you know, fighting to get to

(15:39):
the very top and putting the work in and representing
Seattle soccer, there's no there's no bigger name, there's no
better name than Casey. And you can just see that
when when Smeck's would invite him into the room, Smecks
would learn from Casey as well, like he would what
do you think Casey? And he knew. Sometimes you get

(16:00):
an answer that was like I didn't like it, but
he's still opened the doors for that because Casey's opinion
is so valued valued. So I text him the other
day and congratulate him, and obviously you know, he texted
back and he's like, he's happy about it, But you
wouldn't get the over exuberant excitement that you get from others.
It's just another day. It's another day for Casey. But

(16:21):
he's a he's a legend. I'm excited for him, and
and it's you know, it's for me. When you think
of a group of legends, his name for Seattle region
is the first one that comes up.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
What would you recommend for anyone who wants to get
into this crazy world of sports broadcasting? Like, what sort
of words of wisdom, words of advice? Maybe you know,
some failures, some lessons learned. What can you kind of
pay forward to this next generation of broadcasters while you're
still in it?

Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yeah? Yeah, I think. I think if you want to
if you want to do something, start doing it. You know,
I have a lot of people that will message me
and their message basically translates to how can I call
games in MLS or at the World Cup or whatever?
And I'm like, well you start the process, like where
are you at right now? And they'll say, well, you know,

(17:14):
I'm you know, in college. I'm like, okay, there's your
college of a team. Why don't you go out and
talk to your college and offer your services to call games.
And I tell, I tell people, start listening to yourself, like,
you know, don't don't just call a game and then
move on. Call it, go home, listen back, see what
you think of yourself, because that was the biggest eye

(17:35):
opener for me when I was doing it. And you know,
I'd call a game and I'd listen back and be like, no,
I didn't like that. I don't like one am I
I know I sound inauthentic there in terms of I'm
saying something I think people want to hear, versus saying
what is actually in my in my head or in
my heart. So it's it's repetitions. Don't be don't don't be,

(17:57):
you know, disheartened by the fact that you know, you
don't get to call Seattle Sounders games the first year
of your of your your you know, your journey, but
you know, start calling with your college, call other teams,
and some of that is is going to be on
your dying Let's be honest, because not everyone has the
money to pay. But if you're doing that, and you're
doing that well and putting yourself out there the right

(18:20):
people will recognize. You have to hope that. I mean,
I'm a romantic in that regard, Like which is somebody
out there is going to is going to say that
this this kid is doing well. And you go from
maybe calling high school to calling college and then all
of a sudden you're calling PAC twelve or whatever it
might be where they do a great broadcast there, and
then all of a sudden you get a USL game,

(18:41):
and then like it does, really it does really push
forward like that. I see some of the guys that
call games in this country. I know how look I am,
but I see some of the guys that call other
leagues and other games, and the amount of work that
they put in to put themselves in that position is
is mind boggling as well. So we have to do
it if we call them big games. And if you're

(19:03):
at the very beginning of your journey, just put yourself
out there. Don't be afraid to not enjoy what you said.
Don't be afraid to go out there in that first
game and be like, oh man, I didn't do so
well that that's totally fine. Continue that, start building that process,
and as you do, you'll find yourself getting more comfortable
better and and then you'll get to where you want
to be. But it is it, it is a long road.

(19:25):
Just just have faith in yourself that you'll eventually get there.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
That kind of reminds me. I took a stand up comedy.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Class way way way way back.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
In the day, and the advice was to have the
audacity to humiliate yourself.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
Yeah, jsp you know Julie Surpinks. Yeah, is a good
friend of mine. We share we share the same agent.
And Julie did that. Julie stood up there and and
did stand up comedy and it's yeah, that for me
is it is so so difficult, Like that is like
so I get I give you credit a kielly for

(19:59):
doing that. Like it's like you're at the mercy of
people and to be funny in it every day setting
is tough to be funny when someone says, Okay, your
job is to make everyone in this room laugh. Now
go incredible, But it does humble you, and it does
give you that sense of huh. I can go out
and get on a microphone and it does make that

(20:19):
process a little bit easier. Rich Eisen, who does NFL Network,
in the Rich Chargent podcast, he did the same thing
as well, So it's a lot of people do that.
I prefer trying to be funny in the comfort of
my own home. But it isn't a bad process, but yeah,
it is. It is humbling. I think it's humbling when

(20:41):
other people you put yourself in front of other people.
But I definitely think as well that process of listening
to yourself and watching yourself and critiquing yourself is the
most humbling because that's the most honest assessment you will
ever get, is the one that you give yourself.

Speaker 4 (20:57):
So, Keith, what are some of your about you know,
funny moments, great moments, Like what are some of your
most fun or memorable calls that you've made? And I mean,
please please share some specifically sounders ones, but I mean
go as broad as you want with all the experience
that you have.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
I definitely think that the Katy you were with, the
fun one the Pumas when we went away and then
we came back home, Like, those calls were incredible because
the away game we were in the middle of the
Pumas fans section, so we're yelling like Ladero too too
and Salmas I've got them like and it's like you
could see people looking around at us and it was

(21:35):
like a wild, incredible experience. And then to call the
game back at Loomen and to look around that day
and see the stadium full and packed and the energy
in the city. I remember Eric Shanks, the head of Fox,
was there on the field afterwards, and it was just
listening back to the calls with Casey that day where

(21:56):
it was really humbling, like I really felt like, Wow,
that was the cal nation of a lot of a
lot of work. And I'm I'm a Liverpool fan, so
you know, being being able to call Liverpool games in
Europa League and Champions League. I was on the field
in the final in TeV when we didn't win, but
it was still an incredible experience just to be around
everybody in Madrid the same and then I actually got

(22:20):
to go to the after party and celebrate with the team,
so it was like a culmination of work in the
game and then holding the European Cup later on myself.
So those are some of my favorite moments in MLS.
Me and Moe we called l Traffico a couple of
years ago when it was two nil halftime and it
turns around to four to two. La Galaxy in the

(22:40):
second half, and this atmosphere was you know, when it's here,
like you know, because you have the euro snobs, and
the eurosnob can be American. Who's just oh, I love
European soccer, you know, And to have those moments in
the games where you're in attendance yourself here is wild.
Like the atmosphere afterwards, and me and I was sitting
for dinner later and we're like, man, that was insane.

(23:02):
The atmosphere today. That's those are my favorite moments, like
hell is real and it is incredible. I'll give you
one funny moment. I told Mo he'd never called Seattle Portland,
and I said, if you call this game, this is
the best, best rivalry. It's incredible. So we did a
noon kickoff on a Saturday, and it was like ninety

(23:23):
five degrees and it felt like one hundred and fifteen
on the field. There was zero shots on target in
this game. So Moe was like to me, you built
this up Like I was like, well, I didn't expect
it to be one hundred, like we're playing a game
on the sun. But calling some of those Seattle Portland
games are like an incredible incredible vibe as well, but

(23:43):
those would be some of my favorite moments in terms
of being in the booth and just looking back and saying, man,
that was fun to be a part of.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
All right, quickly, some world cut predictions and expectations. First off,
obviously the big question who are the favorites in your mind?
Start with the favorites, and then I want to get
into which how you think that the host nations are
going to do.

Speaker 3 (24:05):
I think the favorites are obviously France, Spain. I think Argentina,
even though we don't really have a body of work
of what they've done. They haven't been playing many high
profile friendlies. But I think Spain or you know, the
best footballing team. I think France have the best talent,
but that doesn't always equate to success. I have Portugal

(24:25):
for me as as the other team to watch. I
think they have the best midfield in the world in
in Nevez, Vitina, Bruno Fernandez and Bernardo Silva. You're not
going to get better than that anywhere else in any
other team, So those would be the favorites for me.
I know Brazil. I have a Brazilian friend who said,
this is the first time We're there just to make
up the numbers. We're not even going to be inved.

(24:47):
Like he's telling me this all sad. I'm like, it's
it's still Brazil. Like you just always feel like World
Cup time, something is going to happen. But those would
be the teams that I would make as the favorites
right now heading to the World Cup.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
I've heard Portugal from a couple of people, Laura, I
have you as a witness that I said that they
were my sleeper pick as well.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, and I don't think you're wrong. I mean, I
think they've got a shot. I mean, and also you're leaning.

Speaker 4 (25:12):
On I mean, can we say it like there might
maybe I mean, obviously there's a lot of talent, but
there might be a little fate involved. I mean, you
know Ronaldo and being older now, and I mean how
many World Cups has he played in now?

Speaker 1 (25:27):
I mean he started when he was seventeen.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
I believe six, right, this is six World Cups. It's
incredible longevity to seem still. Someone said the other day,
I was listening to talk radio and they said, well,
Ronaldo shouldn't really be a part of things. And they said, okay, Well,
in the last thirty games for Portugal, he scored twenty
three goals. So what part of you thinks he doesn't
belong the guy stills He's reinvented himself so many times. Yeah,

(25:53):
and it's still and you can tell. What I love
about it is you can tell his teammates play for
him like he is. He's not just a god to
the fans. He is a teammate that they all say,
we know you don't do certain things you used to do.
We got your back on that. So yeah, I definitely
think because of that, they're definitely a team to watch
in this tournament.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
What about the host nations Canada, US, Mexico? Who do
you who do you think is going to go the furthest?
Who kind of looks the best out of those three?
Just out of.

Speaker 3 (26:23):
Curiosity, Oh, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go Mexico going
the furthest. And now that's not like yeah, I just yeah,
I just feel like a Guire is, like Javier Guire
is a very pragmatic coach. He's very defensive minded. He
plays sometimes to not lose games. He makes his teams

(26:46):
very organized, very difficult to beat. I just feel like
that was what was needed from Mexico after what happened
with Tata, and they just they they kind of look lost.
They look like they have their identity again. They just
smashed Serbia a few weeks ago. Every game they've played,
they've been in, whether it's against high level opposition where
they've been dominated but still stay in the game, or

(27:08):
you know, mid level where they've they've got the win.
So I think Mexico just go the furthest and I
think US look look really good last two games Senegal
and Germany. What I've liked about it is we've been
on the front foot. We haven't sat back like I
think at Kleinsman's teams and you were like, yeah, we'll

(27:29):
get a result, like we pack it in and we
hit on the count. We're not like we're like we're
throwing the first punch. So that's been exciting. So I
think the US will go. I'm kind of trying to
hedge my Betsy, they'll go just as far as Mexico Canada.
Canada is weird because.

Speaker 4 (27:47):
Yeah, like they.

Speaker 3 (27:52):
Are literally built for the opposition to have the ball.
And what I mean by that is they look good
breaking up play and attacking, so if they're playing against
stronger teams, they will look better. When they are asked
to be the team with the ball, they struggled. They
played Ireland the other day, so I watched and Ireland
with a better team and after the game, Jesse came

(28:12):
out and said, well, if the game actually mattered, we
would have done better. I'm like, what kind of comment
is that, you know? So Canada is one that I
honestly don't know what to expect. Alfonso Davies has had
injury issues, Bombito's out and his pace defensively was massive
for them. I hope everybody gets out of the group stage.

(28:34):
I really do, because I love Jesse as well and
he's a great dude. But I would have Mexico in
the US going further than Canada. Canada is a bit
of a wildcard. Who knows, but right now I'd have
Mexico just edging it beyond the US and the US
going far as well.

Speaker 1 (28:52):
Well, what do you think do you think the USA
can make it to the rand of sixteen?

Speaker 3 (28:56):
Yes? I do, and I think we're set up to
play Belgium then, and Belgium are starting to hit a
little bit of form. But I've said this before one
of the one of the issues we've had Belgium, Portugal, Germany.
Last three European teams we've played, we've lost, but we've
looked steadily better in each game. Like I thought we
played well against Germany. And we always talk about these

(29:18):
dreams and go back to talking about player pathways and hey,
I want to be a pro, I want to be Okay, Well,
you've got to challenge yourself. The US have done that
in the in the build up, they've been playing top
level opposition. And when the World Cup comes around, if
somebody gave you the opportunity to go to a quarterfinal
and they said you're going to play a team it's

(29:39):
going to be Belgium, you knew it was going to
be someone good. But you're going to be home. You're
going to have a stadium behind you. World Cup fand
them in the US is so different to any other
game because we don't have home field advantage generally. You
know when we played Gold Cup, et cetera. But in
the World Cup it's different. And you saw that a
soldier field. You saw it against Senegal as well. I

(30:03):
just think looking at this, it could be set up
for the US to provide a shock in the round
of sixteen and I'm beating a side of the likes
of Belgium, But yeah, around the sixteen is the minimum
for me. Anything less than that and I think we'd
be looking back and saying it was disappointing, but getting
there and we have a little bit of momentum going. Yeah.
I like this team. I like Pouch, I like the

(30:25):
options we have off the bench, Peppy, you know, flow Battlegan.
So I definitely think I definitely go into these games
with hope. I'm not like as nervous as years gone
by when I felt like we didn't have the quality
to go through.

Speaker 2 (30:38):
All right, last question for me and then Laura, you
can finish this up, and I just kind of sounded
like Steve Zachuani their last question for Meketh. Christian rolled
on on the US men's national team and he's definitely
a factor, which is so exciting. I mean, what can
fans expect who don't watch the Sounders, who maybe you
know he's kind of an under the radar player in

(31:00):
a lot of ways. What can fans expect to see
from Christian on the field.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
Christian's just someone that is so level and I think
in these moments you need that in the group, Like
he doesn't get too high with the highest two lows,
with the lows, he stays level. And I think coaches
recognized that that's someone in my locker room that can
help us move in the direction we want to go,

(31:25):
slowly but surely. And I think in terms of Christian,
for so long, you played him where you needed something,
Like he's played right wing, he's played center midfield. Oh
he needs to go right back, right back, Oh, we
need to push back into center back. He can do that.
It's not because he's not great at any position. It's
just he's so good at doing everything well. Like he's

(31:47):
a good pass for the ball, he defends well, he's
good in the year, and he closes down players well
in won v one situation. So he's the glue in
a team, like he's the player that knits everybody else together.
I don't know how much time he's going to get
on the field, he'll play a massive part in terms
of bringing everybody together in that group. But in moments

(32:08):
where you feel it's it's becoming disconnected in games, you
go to it at Christian roll don He gets things
moving he does the simple things over and over again,
and talk about a player who's earned every minute of
being there. It's Christian. I've known Christian since he was
in high school. And yeah, it's it's a proud moment

(32:28):
for everybody like his Calli family down here. And obviously
he's he's a Washington native man. He's he's from Calli,
but he really is. He is Washington Bread, if you
want to put it that way. So I think he's
gonna he's gonna bring a lot to this US men's
national team on and off the field.

Speaker 4 (32:46):
So with that, and I'm I'm really excited to watch
him play. I mean, I love a strong midfielder, somebody
that's the glue, somebody that doesn't always get noticed but
you know, is making things happen. Nonetheless, who do you
think after World Cup? And it might be multiple people
for the United States, who do you think is a
new name or a couple of names that we really
start to talk about and really emerge as superstars on

(33:09):
this team.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
Yeah, that's a really good question. I think I think
Alex Freeman at fullback. His dad played as in the
in the NFL, he played in a Super Bowl. We
had him serious last week and we told him, your
dad understands, right, this is bigger than a World Cup,
this is bigger than a super Bowl super Bowl And
he was like, oh yeah yeah. But I loved it.

(33:32):
He was like, oh yeah, my dad knows that, like
he was telling me that. So it was such a
great moment. This is like a twenty one when you're older,
when he talked to a twenty one year old and
they speak with wisdom and they understand the process. I'm
excited to see him. He's in the league and now
I think he's going to be a player that we're
talking about. Man, he's going to be a mainstay for
the US for years to come. And the other one

(33:55):
I think is sebbi Bearholter. You know, you think about
Greg and and leading this program, and Greg's a great dude,
but you know how X and social media is, it
becomes like a cesspool and oh, you're a bear Halter,
like you get grouped in with that and you almost
have to be stronger than everyone else from the get
go because you have your dad who's been a part

(34:17):
of the US men's national team. But Sebastian Bearhlter is
a player a lot like Christian, he has earned the
right to be here. Everything I know is he's gone
after the World Cup. He's going to move to Europe.
He's going to be in England, and I think he's
going to be a player that you know, over the
next four or five years, we're going to see him
develop into a top class international midfielder for the US

(34:41):
men's national team. And I would add in I think
Peppy has been in and around it. It looks like
he's going to be on his way to the Premier
League as well. I think Ricardo Peppi is going to
is going to have a big World Cup as well
this summer, and I'm excited to see him shine on
the biggest stage.

Speaker 2 (34:56):
All right, Kay, thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 1 (34:58):
This was so much fun. We need to do this
more often.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Thanks for joining Rain weekly reminder for everybody. Ninety three
point three KGr FM is your home. We're all World
Cup coverage from the Seattle and shout out to keep
you know this guy very well, Terry Ryan, our engineer.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
He is a legend of the game, easy legend.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Legend.

Speaker 2 (35:18):
Not only is the legend, he put together the entire
production control room at iHeart so good for him. You
are amazing, Harry, good job, and Keith, you'll you'll join
us again soon and you know, best of luck with
everything and you're killing it with Apple TV, so.

Speaker 3 (35:31):
Congratulations, appreciate it. Thanks for having me today, Kailee and Allura.
Hope the chat again so