The sporting weekend with OTB’s John Duggan
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Pat Kenny Show. With Timber Living Log Cabins. Saturday and Sunday from 10am on Newstalk. Conversation that counts. FYI, says a listener, the Cyprus rugby team is combined like the Irish team. Turkish Cypriots play side by side with Greek Cypriots. So there you are. John Duncan, good morning. Pat, good morning. You're not a fan of Cypriot rugby, are you?
All I know about Greece and Cyprus is the Eurovision, they give each other 12 points, don't they? I don't know if they still do. They still do.
But they used to do it. Anyway, let's talk World Cup. And I was mentioning before the break, the wire of God.
I didn't even see this. Norway claimed that England, their equaliser shouldn't have stood because their goal kick hit a cable in the build-up. But FIFA have released a statement to say that a sensor in the ball showed no evidence that it touched a cable. Look... I think the problem with all this now, Pat, is everybody's looking for conspiracies because of what Trump did with Infantino to help try and get Balogun's red card pushed back and then he did a play against Belgium. So everybody's seen a conspiracy now and everything. But actually, to be honest... I didn't even notice it at the time. And England ultimately went through against Norway because of Jude Battingham's brilliance. They won 2-1 after extra time.
And they're in the semifinals of a World Cup for only the fourth time. What, 1966? 1966. 1990, 2018, and now 2026.
Now, you talk about conspiracy theories.
What controversial World Cup decisions sparked conspiracy talk after the Norway vs England match?
I saw this posted yesterday online before Argentina versus Switzerland. And it goes, if Argentina defeats Switzerland today, and they did, they will become the first nation in World Cup history to reach the semifinals without facing a single top 15 ranked side. Well, they will now.
This is a semifinal, yeah? Yes. Well... That's just the... I mean, if they hadn't won this... I mean, is that the luck of the draw? Portugal, for example, could have had a much easier run if they'd won their group, but they didn't and they ended up playing Spain and got knocked out of the tournament. Argentina won their group. So if you win your group, you might sometimes get... They could have faced Colombia, which would have been a more difficult game, but this was going to be Colombia on penalties. I'm not reading into any of this stuff. I'm more interested in the football and what we have now in store, Pat, which is on Tuesday and Wednesday, Godzilla-like World Cup semifinals. Yeah. France versus Spain, England versus Argentina.
Worthy candidates, in other words. This is no accident. Well, no, it is no accident, ultimately, because these are the best teams in the world. Like France have been in the last two World Cup finals, the one in 2018. Spain are European champions. England have lost the last two European Championship finals, semifinals eight years ago, quarterfinals four years ago. Argentina are the world champions and South American champions. The best teams are in the last four, Pat.
Now, you were talking last week about how it's the superstars that make the tournament. If they deliver, you get a great tournament. What happened to Haaland last night?
Well, Haaland, first of all, there was a moment when Norway were 1-0 up, when his teammate Sordath was through, and he could have passed to Haaland, and he could have made it 2-0. He didn't. He gloried, and he messed it up. But ultimately, Norway, for the first quarter, as I call it... And then there was the disallowed goal where Haaland was deemed to have shoved.
I've seen more shoving in the box than that.
Well, Anderson was pushed and went to VAR. Look, Haaland in games, generally, he has to get the service to deliver, as he did against Brazil. But the service wasn't that great from Norway. I ultimately thought Norway at times had England on the ropes, but I just felt that England's... Had, if you talk about world-class players, Jude Battingham has scored six goals in the tournament he plays for Real Madrid. His equaliser was sensational and then he was alert enough in the extra time period to get that second goal.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–1:28
2
What controversial World Cup decisions sparked conspiracy talk after the Norway vs England match?
1:28–3:44
3
How did Jude Bellingham and England ultimately prevail in extra time?
3:44–4:51
4
Why is Argentina’s path to the semifinals being called ‘luck of the draw’?
4:51–7:00
5
Which World Cup semifinal matchups should fans be most excited about and why?
7:00–9:13