Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hello and welcome into the latest edition of ESPN FCK. Maureen Alejandro Moreno here in the studio. We had some very important games today as the UEFA teams were in the semi-finals of the World Cup play-offs and Italy, in Pathé, were taking on Northern Ireland.
It was two second-half goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kent that sealed the deal to put Italy through to the final, the play-off final it is, in Pathé on Tuesday. We've got the Gavin Jewell show here on ESPN FC tonight, but only one place to start. That is with you, Gav Marcotti. How are you feeling? Italy just one game away.
I'm feeling relieved that we've gone one step further than the last time around. But obviously, now it's all down to Bosnia. And can 40-year-old Njeko terrorize this Italian defense? I think the performance was there in the second half, in the first half. You know, Northern Ireland, rightly so. They played their game. They sat deep. And it's hard to break it down.
It felt like one of those sort of cup ties with a lower division team and then the bigger team kind of like trying to figure out how to break through. And you always need a bit of good fortune. And they had that. And I think once they took the lead, it became really hard for Northern Ireland to get back into it. So, Gab, what's Gattuso learned from this performance?
Like, will it be pure esposito in the final here? Because it was a big difference in the second half to the first half once he'd come on. I hope he's not tempted to go and just, you know, pick on performance.
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Chapter 2: What were the highlights of Italy's match against Northern Ireland?
I mean, I think having Pio Esposito as somebody who can come off the bench is a tremendous asset. You know, Witegi hadn't played a competitive game in several weeks. So, you know, there was some ring rust there. But I think it was also the case that It's hard when you don't have the ball, when you've got 25-30% possession like Northern Ireland in the first half.
Eventually, it gets hard to continue defending like that, and it's easier to play with the lead, and Pio Esposito got to do that. So, I mean, personally, I'm not 100%. People will ask for him to start in place of Matteo Retteghi. I don't think that's cut and dried by any means.
And I think the big difference against Bosnia is that so many of these players play in Serie A, so many of them are familiar. And I think they're going to present an entirely different challenge to Northern Ireland. Props today, though, Jules, to Moise Kane and Sandro Tonali in the second half.
Yeah, and I think it's probably logical in a way that Sandro Tonali, that is the key player today, he's probably been of those Italian starting XI, the best player this season with his club, at club level. He's been outstanding. He's the one that was going to deliver it. That finish is so perfect, isn't it?
Chapter 3: Why do the hosts believe Italy is a favorite for World Cup qualification?
And then he gives the assist to Moise Kane, who... Could have scored maybe at least another one, maybe even two. And I think this is the kind of momentum you could feel the tension at the start through the whole first half. It was not easy despite a decent start. And after that, it felt flat a little bit, probably because of that tension.
But once that first goal went in, then there was just no other outcome than Italy qualifying. Really, they were far too good for, I thought, a very poor, albeit strong defensively, but a very poor Northern Ireland team with the ball anyway.
And next up for Italy, it is Bosnia and Herzegovina. Wales had had the lead in this game through Dan James, but late on the 40-year-old Edin Dzeko levelled things out. It went to extra time and penalties, and Bosnia won the game on penalties to set up that final with Italy on Tuesday. So here's how things are looking. It will be Tuesday, the final between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy.
Gab, my question to you is, how do you feel that it is Bosnia and not Wales? Did you have a preference here? I mean, not really, because ultimately you have to take responsibility. You're the 12th or 13th ranked nation in the world. You're going to have better players than the opposition. Could one be, you know, if you can't go and get it done against Wales or against Bosnia away,
You don't deserve to be in the World Cup, and you can't go and make excuses, just like you couldn't make excuses in the last two World Cup qualifying campaigns. I think Bosnia, like I said, presents a very different challenge. I think it's probably a cannier team than Wales. They don't have the fast strikers like Wales made with Wilson and Brendan Johnson.
Adam Jacko though, of course, even at 40 years old, so smart. I don't think he can play 90 minutes. Didn't play 90 minutes on this occasion. So I think it's a question. The biggest risk is that you try to turn it into kind of like a patient waiting game. If you're Italy, if you're tempted, you can't be tempted to do that.
You have to take the game to the opposition, come up, maybe risk something on the counter, try to score, and then kind of manage the game from there. If it stays tight, I think the crowd's going to become more and more of a factor, and I don't think that's a good thing for Italy. What are your initial thoughts, Jules, on that final in Pathé?
Yeah, I mean, personally, from a pure family point of view, I would have loved Wales to qualify and have this final in Cardiff against Italy. I agree with Gab. I think Bosnia is tricky. It's probably trickier than Wales in a way, especially away from home. You know the atmosphere is going to be hostile in a very different way than it would have been in Cardiff too.
A lot of those players know Serie A very well. They know who they're playing against. They know also the kind of psychological factor will be the same than it was in this Northern Ireland game. You could expect Bosnia before the game in a pre-match press conference, for example, to say, well, the pressure is all on Italy, which is true.
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Chapter 4: What challenges does Italy face against Bosnia in the final?
Someone reports an abandoned car on a bridge. A search gets underway for the missing driver, 19-year-old Sarah Stern. Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point, nobody knows. Old friendships, buried cash, and a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm Juju Chang from 2020 and ABC Audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lies, wherever you get your podcasts.
In the friendly between Brazil and France at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, we saw two goals for France to win the game from Kylian Mbappe and Hugo Eketike. It was a match in which we saw Upamecano sent off and Bremer get a consolation goal for Brazil, but in the end it was France with the win. At the stadium for us was Alexis Nunes and Xhaka Hiclop. Here they are.
Thanks, Kay. And are you not entertained? I mean, I did call it wrong. I got the score right. I said 2-1 to Brazil.
You can't claim that.
I know, but kind of, Shaka. I was feeling a 2-1. Brazil at least did come back. Had a little bit of fight there towards the end. But, Shaka, in the end, it really was all about France. We knew that Brazil would have to use this as kind of a measuring stick because of how strong France were. How do you think Carlo Ancelotti will feel they did? Well...
Brazil certainly finished strongly. Maybe they take that and use that as some kind of a positive to build around. But the truth is, France were down to 10 men. After Per Makano's red card, very early on, 1-0 at the time, France go on, EQTK doubles France's lead. And France passing, even with 10 men on the path, was just something to behold. It really was. And we talk about...
You see how many teams get it wrong, passing out from the back. You see France do it that way and it was a joy to watch at this level of the game. And it spoke to how good they are as a team, as individuals, even as changes were being made, that they could still control the ball, still pass the ball in the way that they did.
Yeah, a whole lot of changes started to happen later on, and Brazil got a goal, and there was something for the fans to be out of their seats about later on. But the truth is, I just saw that over the entire piece, France just showed how good a team they are, how much better than Brazil they are right now.
Well, France obviously with the less amount of work to do before they head into the World Cup, but Brazil, what do they need to do, Xhaka? Because as we said, the fans are not settling for second, third, fourth best.
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