England’s Azteca heroics + inside Trump’s Balogun call
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Athletic FC.
Hello and welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Emma Payton. England overcome the Azteca in an instant classic to set up a quarterfinal clash with Erling Haaland's Norway. And ahead of the USA taking on Belgium, well, what role did Donald Trump play in the decision to suspend Folloran Balogun's ban? Well, here with me in the studio, I feel like we're all beaming this morning, we've got Keris Jones and Art de Rocher. Is this team no sleep, team very little sleep here in the studio? Team...
two and a half hours sleep yeah i'm in a similar boat i feel you both what a night unbelievable yeah it was a really i was saying before we started recording i went to the pub for the game and when it was about quarter past one and kickoff had been pushed back an hour i was sat there going this is one of the worst decisions i've ever made in my life And now I have no regrets. That was so special.
No, none of us have any regrets about staying up.
How did England secure a dramatic 3-2 win at the Azteca and what was the match atmosphere like?
You're rocking your England shirt. We won't talk about who's on the back.
I don't mind. I mean, I know a lot of people know me as an Arsenal writer, but I said, I think the other day, I don't really care about tribalism when it comes to international football. I mentioned Joe Cole, basically. Okay. So this is Cole Palmer on the back. Just because I love him as a player. This is from Euro 2024. So, I mean, goal scorer in the final. So I don't really think too many people can argue.
I'm sure people will. Don't worry about that. They will. How did you watch the game then?
I watched at home. Usually on Sundays, me and my boys, we play PlayStation in the evening. But we moved our sesh to the very late evening. And then they went to bed after the delay. So I went on Football Manager. Yeah.
Well, that's how we dealt with the early start here in the UK. But there to see it live in Mexico City was our England correspondent, Jack Pitbrook.
That is the Azteca Stadium behind me. England have just won here 3-2, or at least they did a few hours ago. They're in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. And I think that was the best game I've ever been to. I don't think I can remember anything comparable to it. Certainly not in terms of atmosphere. It was even better than I expected. It was significantly louder than I expected. I thought that the game was kind of endlessly fascinating, exhausting. It had so many different phases. But what it really came down to was, can England defend with 10 men for the entirety of the second half against a Mexican team who had the whole crowd behind them? And the answer is that they could. Mexico only scored once in the second half.
That was in the penalty spot. But at the end, England had a back five with Spence at left back, Konsa at right back, Byrne, Gahee and Stones in the middle, and they were all absolutely heroic. People thought that Dan Byrne was just brought to the World Cup for the banter. He was incredible today. He put his head in the way of Raul Jimenez's overhead kick. And I think at one point he headed the ball based in 60 yards on the other end of the pitch. And what really matters about this is not even just England progress. It's that they showed a togetherness, a flexibility, an ability to work well as a team and defend well as a team. They did the dirty side of the game that a lot of people said that they weren't very good at.
And they did that so well today that I think that that bodes really well for them going into Norway in Miami in their quarterfinal. There's still a lot of issues in the Zingman team. I thought the way that they dropped the ball after going 2-0 up was really poor. That should have been game over. But in fact, they massively let Mexico into it. Big issues, I think, with their discipline. Big issues at times with their defending or with their structure. But at the moment, that doesn't matter. Because Zingman, they're in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. They go to Miami next weekend.
Yeah, doesn't matter, Jack. We're being positive for now, OK? There is, by the way, loads of reaction over on The Athletic if you haven't had a look already.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–1:03
2
How did England secure a dramatic 3-2 win at the Azteca and what was the match atmosphere like?
1:03–11:57
3
Which England players stood out in Mexico and how did the team defend after the red card?
11:57–34:59
4
How did Jude Bellingham influence England’s win and why were his goals important?
34:59–38:30
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from The Athletic FC Podcast
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