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This is what champions come to take. This is what everyone came to see. No do-overs. No second chance. No more Mr.
Nice Guy. This is Winner Take Ball. And it's all happening now on the home of the NBA Finals. Don't miss it, June 3rd on ABC and the ESPN app. This is The Rich Eisen Show.
Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern.
Miss the show. We've got a podcast, so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment.
Now, on with the show. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Rich Eisen Show with guest host Susie Schuster. Susie, you're ten times better than your husband. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show.
ESPN senior NBA writer Vincent Goodwell. Coming up. WWE superstar Cody Rhodes. World Cup analyst Maurice Adu. Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Weber.
And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Susie Schuster.
Well, hello, everybody. Welcome to hour two of the Rich Eisen Show. I am Susie Schuster in For Rich. Christopher Brockman, how are you feeling over there, buddy? You look better.
You're doing great. Yeah. Thanks. Appreciate that. How's that donut treating you?
Doing my best. Didn't have a donut today. Don't eat it. Can't do it. Don't do it.
Felly, you had one. How are you doing? I've had several. Out of boyfelly. DJ, are you excited for Cody Rhodes?
Absolutely. That's my guy. You referred to him as superstar. I want to be referred to as superstar Susie Schuster from now on. And by the way, try to say that three times fast.
Good. I mean, look, Billy Graham. Would you not be glad you tried? Billy Graham was superstar. You could be superstar.
Superstar Susie Schuster. I'm just saying I will be the triple S, right? That'd be nice. Let's do it. We get to have Cody Rhodes join us now, which is very exciting because I've done a lot in my career, but I've never interviewed number one, a superstar, but forget about the undisputed WWE champion, Cody Rhodes.
And what I really want to know from you more than anything else, and welcome to the show, first. What's up, brother? Should I say welcome, Ben Benuti? Thank you. Ben Benuti.
Let's talk about what's important, which is how much time have you spent in Italy? And the follow-up of, of course, is what's the first thing you're going to eat when you go there. Oh, that's that's a really great great question. The funny thing is, I'll actually leave from here today. I'll go to Liverpool for a non-televised event.
Then we kick to Barcelona for Friday Night SmackDown. Then we finally make it to Turin for Clash in Italy. And we have that show in addition to Florence and Rome. I don't know. Because the stakes are high.
The pressure is there in terms of what's the authentic Italian experience. Do you have a recommendation? I have so many. Yes, she does. I have so many.
We will talk about this off the show. Yeah, I mean, are you kidding me? I love Italy more than life itself. Rich and I spent a lot of time there, or we used to before our three kids ruined our life. But yeah, I mean, are you kidding?
We'll chat. I've got places in Florence, Rome. I don't know Torino very well, but I can really go deep for you. And I'm going to give you some phraseology to use while you're over there, too, because why not? This is so exciting.
And by the way, don't miss all the action. WWE Clash in Italy Sunday, May 31st at 2 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Pacific on the ESPN app. You get that with an ESPN Unlimited plan.
But what's it going to be like for you bringing your sport to Italy the way you are? The world attention. To wrestling is at an all-time high.
So, what's it going to be like for you as the ambassador there? One of the things I'm really excited about was last year we went and we were in Milan and it was just a live event. Again, it was non televised. And Nick Kahn, president of WWE, has been really good about using the live events overseas as Potential tests for can we go over there and do a huge PLE like we're doing this Sunday with Clash in Italy. And in Milan, I told them afterwards, I said, I can tell, and make some noise for me one last time so everybody back home can hear you.
I can tell we're going to be coming back. I love the fact that they've not made a liar out of me when it comes to those moments because they are such a rambunctious. interject energetic and also they're non-tiring. Which is a really great thing in terms of what we do in wrestling. And we try to put on a nice, concise show for everybody, but they won't wear out all night long.
They sing. There's an element of hooliganism to it that's beautiful that we don't always get domestically. And they're excited to see everybody. I think for me, it'll be fun to see if they consider my opponent Gunther. One of them, because everyone keeps saying we're going to be in Europe, but Gunther's Austrian.
He's not an Italian.
So I'm curious to see if it carries over. I don't think it will. Yeah, whether it'll cross that border, right? I mean, it's just up the road from you. What are you expecting from him?
I mean, obviously, he said he was coming for the gold, and what do you have to say about that?
Well, as a big, a big cat-like athlete, if that makes any sense. There's guys who, history-wise, Terry Gordy, Bam Bam Bigelow, Vader is probably the best example. Gunther has that skill, and when he walks in a room and you see how physically impressive he is, and he has a whole style to him that's different from anybody else in the game. But these are the type of matches he hasn't been in in a while. He's been in nostalgia matches, Goldberg, AJ Styles as he was leaving the company, John Cena retiring after I'd already beat John Cena.
I think this is a prize fight. It's a different type of match, and it's not one he's ready for. What's been the greatest moment in your career? Oh, good one. That should be an easier answer, but I'll uh It has to likely be WrestleMania 40.
Because capturing, I just took it off my shoulder because it was getting uncomfortable, but capturing the WWE Championship is probably the most real story. That I could possibly tell in sports entertainment and pro wrestling that blends fact and fiction because it was the title that my dad never won and was so close to winning. And I really thought it was out of my hands by the time I'd come back to WWE to be able to hold it up and hand it to my mom. It's also lingering today because everyone who put me on their shoulders in the ring and celebrated, almost all of them have turned on me at this point.
So, like all modern WWE spins out of WrestleMania 40, and that has to be the best moment in my career. And what's the match that you wish that you could get back? Oh, get back in terms of change it or just be back in that moment? Let's do both. Oh.
To be back in that moment. would probably be Battleground in Buffalo, New York, because it became almost a second hometown for me. That's the one real rare appearance of my brother and my dad and I all together. And there was we were middle of the card. There was some question on whether the Buffalo crowd would like the Rhodes family story, and they came alive and brought us to new heights.
Roman Rains and Seth Rollins, who I know you're familiar with Seth Rollins, friend of the show. He uh He would, they're also all in the ring, so it was fun to share that moment. A match I wish I could get my win back is uh. This is a bit inside baseball, but this is the truth, and he knows it. No pun intended.
Ron Killings has been ducking me. And I whispered in his ear two weeks ago that I never forget anything. And he made my life a living hell when I was dashing Cody Rhodes, when I was Stardust. And I think he's got like 30-something victories on me. Finishing the story, the term we have, and Michael Cole coined at WWE really wasn't about winning the WWE title.
It's about beating Ron, beating truth. And when I do that, I'll be complete. I can sleep at night after I beat truth. I can. I'm very petty, Triple S.
I'm very petty. I really like that about you because, Cody, guess what?
So am I. Yes. I got questions for you. Who carries your belt? Is there a Bagman who carries that for you?
No, ma'am. I carry the belt with me through all the airports. I also WW. Will always like to keep track of the belt. This is maybe a bit of nobody knows, but there's barcodes on the inside of the belts now to keep track.
And if there's two of them floating out there, I make sure I have all two on me at all times. When you're the champion, that's got to be very real. You got to carry that thing with you everywhere. You got to talk to the guy running it through the x-ray and tell him about it. That's fun.
That's one of those champagne problems that when you don't have that extra weight in your bag, you're going to miss it.
So What happens if you're having a bad day? I mean, that's what's so funny. Here goes TJ with his belt, which by the way, is I'm not sure if you know this is non-authentic. But you're right. You have to talk to everybody.
You've got to be on all the time. That's got to be exhausting. I mean Yes and no, but I maybe because I I hit my stride and Sports entertainment pro wrestling a little later in my career than I wanted to. I really don't take any of it for granted. You'll, you'll You'll never hear me complain about the fans in the hotel or the airport collectors or our moments when I'm not in the best of spirits or doing interviews.
That's all. Ah, that's a gift. That's that, that's a gift, and I don't know. I got a lot of that, even though I'm not a boomer, I got a lot of that boomer mentality where I love it. I, I, I, this is a gift to be able to work every day and to live my dreams.
And you know, I know it will end at a certain point with all the retirements we've had in WWE, so I don't really have bad days, triple-S. I don't. That's so nice, so good to hear that because there are so many players. I don't know as much about the wrestling world, but so many players who. Begrudge their fame, begrudge their popularity, and don't always treat the fans the way they should.
And I remember when I was covering a World Series one year, there was one player in particular who just couldn't be nice. And I'd said to him, You realize that that one interaction that you just had, and he'd say, Susie, you don't get it. He just wants me to sign so he can sell it. And I said, That might be the case, but you don't know. And that one interaction that you had changes that person's life permanently as opposed to it just being a Wednesday for you.
So it's kind of nice that you have that perspective.
Well, you talk about the ones who sell it. I've heard John Cena say this, and I don't want to misquote him, but I feel the same way. That Doesn't seem like a problem for me. That's, if anything, I'm flattered that I can help you out. By signing my name on this Funko Pop.
Again, the it's an absurd thing. And maybe I got this opinion when I was doing independence and I was away from WWE, but when you show up to the airport and no one's there, That's bad. That's bad. That's that's so so I don't uh I don't take him for granted. I'll laugh if there's like online video of me having a terrible experience at the airport sometime, and then it can fly in the face, my hypocrisy.
But right now, in this moment, I think I've always been pretty good with it. What's your What's your goal? What do you want to do? Do you want to be Cena-ish and go off to Hollywood? What's your plan?
I definitely want to grow beyond telling stories in the ring. I got the opportunity to do Street Fighter, comes out this October. Katao Sakurai, who directed this movie, I just saw bits of it the other day. I think it's going to be a huge hit. I hope it is because I had such a fun time making it.
50 Cents in there. Jason Momoa, Noah Centeneo, unbelievable cast. But. I want to do more of that. What we do in the ring is tell stories.
I'd love to do it outside of falling down in the pro wrestling ring. But that'll come when this is done. Cena is a great example. Ric Flair is another great example. Hulk Hogan, every Triple H, my boss, everyone who.
Carried the actual main title in the industry has to carry it with the responsibility that comes with it. And the responsibility has a timeline on it.
So keeping this as long as I can is the immediate goal. Beyond that, there's a few matches left on the board at WWE I haven't had, and there'll be new matches coming about each day because we have so many guys getting locked and loaded down at NXT that I'll probably want to touch before all is said and done. But moving into Hollywood, is a definite natural extension of what we do next. Just being able to tell stories. Batista, Dwayne, Cena, the Terry Funk even.
There's been so many examples of guys who really did well with it and brought their skill set over it. Yeah, it's too bad you don't look like you should be in movies anyway. One more question about the belt. What does it weigh? And is it two more questions, I lied.
And then Is it like the Lombardi, where if you don't win it, you don't touch it, or do people like to touch it? Like, what's the story there? The Lombardi question is a great question. I believe that if you don't win it, you don't touch it. The Young Gen X Gen Zs.
Which they're taking over, so I got to stop talking about them begrudgingly. But they don't give a damn. You can talk about them begrudgingly here. We're very begrudgy. Braunbreaker is probably going to win the WWE title more than once in his career, but he had just come up from NXT.
And he's on the sideline doing media for us wearing the WWE Championship, the replica one they had handed him that I'm pretty sure he was supposed to give to a coach somewhere. That generation doesn't really have that same rule about not touching the title.
So maybe it's just a bit old school in terms of you shouldn't touch it. I always thought it was taboo before you won it. For example, I've never touched the World Heavyweight Championship that Roman Reigns has because it's not mine. I haven't touched it. You touch it when you win it, if that makes.
any sense? And then the fir what what was the first question? How much does that weigh? Let's give it the wrestler exaggerated weight of, let's say, it weighs 19 pounds. But famously.
Yeah, famously the NWO title, NWO, I meant NWA championship, was the 10 pounds of gold. I think they all kind of fall into that same category, somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds. Yeah, after a while if at the airport, that's going to feel really heavy. All right, TJ, I know you're just chomp and hop in. TJ and TJ has his own show, doesn't he?
Yeah, when are you going to go on uh when are you going to go on TJ's Wrestling with uh th with O'Shea? When are you going to hop on the pod? That's the crazy thing. He's in here. Greg is over here on his phone.
Zach is floating around. I asked them about their show. I want to come on it. I want you on No Contest Wrestling Championship. We want him on No Contest Women.
Come on. Shout out to Greg Domino. I hear he's in the building. And, Susie, for you to dare say that the No Contest Wrestling Championship is inauthentic. Look at that.
That's a little, that's a little harsh. I wouldn't say that about this 20 pounds of gold that Dave Milliken made for us coaching. 20 pounds of gold? I walk over there. It's so far away.
Well, no, you don't have to. Maybe what she meant is it's unverified, right? You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. It's not.
Have you wrestled for it yet? Yeah. I didn't wrestle, but I did get into a street fight outside that 7-Eleven over honestly. That counts. If you and O'Shea get in the ring right there in front of you.
I will award it to the winner, and until then, inauthentic.
Well, we're a tag team, so we're not going to fight each other. No, I want to see the two of you fight. That's fine. That doesn't even make sense. But listen, Cody, you mentioned something earlier about independence, right?
And you are just such a great example of someone. Who bet on himself, right? A lot of people out there are in situations at work, they don't really have it in them to like leave that situation and go somewhere and bet on themselves. Ten years ago, you famously did that. You kind of left a a job that you seem to have a pretty decent spot in, but you wanted more, right?
Can you just give me that mentality back then, back in 2016? What made you so confident that you could go out on your own and have success, the success that's led you to having that championship that you hold right now? I think the only thing that can give you confidence. in a moment like that. If you're naturally a confident person, perhaps, but I'm not.
I think what gave me the confidence to do so was. Not when I initially did it, when I left. When I put my statement out, when I didn't even sign my release papers, when I just walked. When the world mobilized on social media, which is why I never want to give up on social media as crazy as it's gotten. When the world mobilized on there to support me, And then the list comes out, and here's who I'm going to be wrestling, and then they.
Not only did they supported me on social, they did so with their own wallets and came to these small shows from Joppa, Maryland to you know Daly City, California, whatever it may be. Cody, I was first row at PWG when you wrestled Treville Lee back in the day, you know.
So the ring broke on us. I remember the ring breaks and that. Yeah, no, that. All of that, if I didn't have it. Which I didn't.
It was a very big bluff. This is a big card game, and it was a big bluff, and it ceased being a bluff. The Sudan ties, the braggadocia, the confidence, all of it ceased being a bluff the moment the fans actually stood behind me. You know, I'm I'm very much propped up. By that fandom, and I've continued to be through every endeavor I took.
The only thing I can say for those who are out there and they're wanting more and wanting to do more, it's easy for me to say it now having. Got to the top of the mountain in the wrestling space and trying to build a new mountain, I guess. But Then it was a matter of surrounding myself with people who would support me, Brandy Rhodes. Was we she had a job that they weren't even considering her leaving, and she she she walked off that ship with me. And the fact the gentleman that I would find outside of WWE who and the places I would go and the fans I would meet, all of that, I surrounded myself with people who wanted to win.
Uh, you know, that saying, Mediocrity loves company, and I didn't want to. There's a famous clip: God bless him, hornswoggle. They asked him what he thought about me leaving, and he said it was dumb. He said I should just take the check. And I like that guy.
It wasn't, he didn't mean anything negative by it, but that isn't how I live. I'm not just there to take the check. I don't even look at my checks. I'm there for the moment. I'm there for that engagement with the fans, and I just wanted more and knew I was capable.
You've got this huge title match coming up against Gunther this weekend at the clash. As people know, Gunther has retired Goldberg. He's retired John Cena. He's retired A.J. Styles.
So he's a very formidable opponent.
Now you said you wanted to come on No Contest Wrestling. We're going to make that happen at some point. But this afternoon, Gunther is actually appearing on No Contest Wrestling with O'Shea and I.
So I don't know if you two will run into each other before you step into that squared circle. Is there any words? that you would have for Gunther before he tries to take what's yours this weekend. No, I would tell him to enjoy his time with you guys. Enjoy the media rounds.
This is some of the most fun you'll ever have. And he's getting to do that because he's wrestling for the richest prize in our game at Clash in Italy, which, in my mind, is starting to become one of the big four. And it only continues if he leaves Italy with the title. And as you know, and as O'Shea knows, I am easy to find and I am hard to beat.
So if he's to take the title and clash in Italy, then he can be the one to come back on your show and have it. But I think the way it will go is you'll talk to him. It'll be a great conversation. And then hopefully I'll show up in a few weeks and I'll have the title in tow and it will be a better conversation. That is some next level Jedi mind tricks.
He's the man, right? Hey, I'm happy for him, man. Enjoy that media, you know, have a good time. Yeah, but you basically, I mean, that was cold.
So he's basically saying so good. You're basically saying, yeah, enjoy. You're basically saying he's doing this because of you. Yeah. Have fun being a tourist in Italy.
Couldn't you? Right. I mean, basically, he's doing it, not, I wouldn't say because of me, because of the WWE Championship. There's a few. Prize fighters that are left in the WWE space, and there's more of them growing each day with what Shawn Michaels and Baldo are teaching them to at NXT.
But you've got a CM Punk, you've got a Roman Reigns, you've got a Oba Femi, you've got myself the WWE champion, you've got Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre. Whenever you're up against those guys, you're going to make the rounds.
So Gunther hopefully gets into that golden circle at some point. You know, good luck. Right, so this is all you have to know for Italy, okay? You have to be able to say, Gratimile, me poso aspetare vo re mangari primo vor vorre mangari il pranso prima perfavore. It's a lot.
Break it down.
Okay, so just again, ready? We're going to try this. I'll do it again really fast.
Okay. Grazimile, ma poso mangare il primo. Franzo.
So usually. Mm-hmm. If you really want to be polite, you can say, vorre mangare il mio pranso prima. Vore Manjari What's the second part? Oh gosh, I can't.
Poso menjari il mio minjari so prima. Il mio pranso prima. In Neobranza. Il mio pranzo prima. If you really want to say, you can just say pozo mungiare prima.
Just say poso mungare prima. Poso mungare. What do you mean? It's like, thanks so much, but can I have, can I finish my lunch first? Because everyone's going to say autografico, autografico.
You say grazimile ma poso mundare prima. That's a good easy possum jare prima. That way, you know, that's the I was trying to t teach you the formal because you're kind of a really polite, formal guy. But you say a gratimile, ma posum tar prima. Grazemile.
That part I'm going to do. We'll send you a cut of this code and you can study it on it. I love it. Send me a cut. I want to use it.
Listen, you know, when Rich is here, you're going to have a different conversation. I'm here for the vocabulary. Yeah, you're really, you get in there and you're bold and firm. Rich is like a lean back, sucker you in type. Yeah, he let.
Yeah, what charm, though. How long have you guys been married?
So long. Yeah. 23 years. 23. Congratulations.
Thanks. I'll take it. Listen, safe travels. Thank you. Go get them, Cody.
Bon Viaggio, and we really appreciate you being with us. Definitely. Thank you very much. I look forward to being here again. Thank you guys.
Take care, Cody. Thanks again. Bye. In a world in need of a hero, I think we have Cody Rhodes. One man rises to the challenge in style.
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Rich Eisen here. You ever notice what happens when something big rolls into your city? A major tournament, a can't-miss concert, a high-stakes playoff game. Suddenly, fans are everywhere. Feels like everyone's trying to get in.
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Let's pull up that roster one more time as we can take a look at some of these guys. The roster was announced on Tuesday, ahead of you coming in here. Folos there, right? We see him, we see Christian Pelusik. No surprises there.
Who are the surprises that you're seeing on this roster?
So, funny enough, right, Gio Reyna struggled with injuries when he's fit. He's always shown well in a national team jersey. We know his quality, we know the potential he has, but he's kind of hasn't played many minutes at the club level.
So he's a name that surprises people. I actually, when I was doing my little mock draft up of my lineup or of my roster, I had both him and Diego Luna on my team because. When you get to a knockout round game and you need to win games, I want as many. Creative players, difference makers on my roster to choose from as possible.
Now, will they all see the field? I don't know, but I want to have that cachet to dive into and dip into to try to surprise teams or just disrupt what's kind of been the norm. The other name that stands out there is number 26, Alejandro Zendejas. It stands out because he wasn't a part of the last couple camps with the national team. It doesn't stand out based on form, the kid's been balling.
Like he plays for one of the biggest teams, if not the biggest team in our region, Club America, down in Mexico, where he's their best player. He's the best player on their team. He wears a captain's armband at times. And Playing for that club, the pressure that comes with that, it's hard to mirror that.
So he's a name that I expected to be on this roster, and I'm glad to see that he is. Why was Diego Luna left off? That's the m million, billion dollar question. You know, there's a couple things that The coach, Pochettino, said Before the last roster, last camp that we had, where it kind of alluded to players not being. Physically prepared or fit going into the start of this year, which is a World Cup year.
Now I can't point my finger and say that that's the exact reason. Ultimately, it's a coaching decision. You know, we look at the last World Cup. There were guys that were left off that roster that were so close to making it and probably deserved it. A guy like Riccardo Peppi, I think back to my time.
2014, I got cut from the team and I thought I was the biggest snub. And then a few. Minutes later, I found out that Landon Donovan was also cut from that team.
So, you know, coaches make decisions.
Sometimes they pay off, sometimes you live to regret them. But we're at a point now where that's probably the biggest one that we're going to talk about. But ultimately, we still have a talented group of players that can go out there and really cause some problems for opponents. You earned 46 caps with the national team. You were at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
What is it like playing on the international stage? What will these guys be going through? It's honestly, Susie, it's the best thing you can do in your sport. Like to play at the club level, to become a professional. That was my dream as a kid.
But to be able to play on the largest stage. The World Cup. You're wearing your U.S. crest on your chest. You have your last name on the back of your jersey.
You're representing so much more than yourself and even your family now when you have that crest on the front of your chest.
So it's just this. It's a great sense of pride. It's something that you can never take for granted because you get the opportunity today. You don't know if that's your last chance, that's the last time you're gonna wear that jersey, the last time you're gonna put on that kit. walk out in front of thousands of fans and have the chance to inspire That next generation of fans to inspire your country, you hear the national anthem, and it just gives you goosebumps.
Yeah, I mean, if I could bottle up that feeling and sell it, I'd be a billionaire at this point in my life. But it's a special occasion, and as I said, half of these players have experienced playing at a World Cup already, but this the other 13 players. When they get that opportunity, I hope they seize that moment and Get a chance to just revel in what it feels like for that split second before things switch on and you got to just get focused on trying to perform. You're going to be looking for all sorts of fun storylines in this. And the Gio Reina storyline is fun to read about with 2022, with Greg Bernhalter, with him basically growing up within these two families that kind of had their little mini struggle inside of U.S.
soccer. You want to just give us a little bit of a look ahead of what you're expecting and a little bit of a history lesson, too. Yeah, honestly, I'm. I'm interested in the Geo storyline, the Sebastian Berhalter storylines, but more so about what they can bring to this team. Because, yeah, there was obviously the drama that happened in 2022, but I think we got to let people know that there was some drama.
There was drama. They'd grown up with each other. Then Greg was the coach, and then Greg basically sidelined him because he didn't think he was playing hard enough. It's like a twisted Ted Lasso turn, right?
Somewhat, yeah. Yeah. And of course, that played out in front of the whole world for us all to witness. And, you know, on that stage, of course, it brings even more attention. But.
Again, we we Of course, that's going to be something that fans talk about, but I'm internally, I'm not that. concerned about that. You know, these are two mature kids who have moved on past that and both earned the right to be a part of this roster going forward. And I'd be damned if either of them let that become something that disrupts this team. Right?
Hopefully, bridges have been mended, and they are two players that are more than that moment. You know, you make mistakes, and who am I to sit here and hold these two accountable for something that. Where I'm not perfect. I made mistakes when I was younger. I made decisions that I look back on and would hate that you would judge me on today.
And so four years later, We're past that point. These guys are out there looking to represent the country. When you speak to each of them, you see and you hear in their voices, you hear in their responses how much this means to them, how much it means to be a part of this team. And And as you said, they come from football and soccer families where both of their parents represent the national team.
So they grew up knowing what it means to represent your country, and they're going to relish the opportunity. Who's going to be the hardest challenge? Obviously, there's the. The world knows, right? I mean, like, there's certain countries that represent every time, but.
Who are you most curious to see and who will be hardest for the U.S.? The first game. Like I'd be naive to sit here and tell you and talk to you about What it's going to be like if we play Belgium in the knockout rounds, or when we play Spain, or France, or whoever our opponents are. If we don't take care of business in our group stage, now when I look at our group stage, we're playing Paraguay in our opening game, SoFi Stadium. We'll play Australia in Seattle and then come back to SoFi to play Turkey A.
Three good opponents, but three opponents that I think we can That sets the stage for us to win the group. But I say Paraguay is the most important because it's the first game. You start off that first game and you get three points, it puts you well on your way to not only getting out of the group. But to winning the group. To me, all Attention, focus, energy.
Has to be focused on that first match. Yeah, Group D will be really, really tough. When you separate yourself out from your job, Who do you still geek out at watching? I still geek out at watching I mean, all the big stars, you know, you look at the French national team and I mean, they're spoiled for choice when you talk about talent. Killing and Bape, um They have young players playing at PSG, Desiree Douay.
Usman dembele, you look at Spain and Labinho Mall playing for Barcelona. He's still a teenager, but he's. Already one of the best players that we've ever seen in this sport. England will tell you every World Cup that it's coming home. And they have a talented squad with Harry Kane.
They have Bakayo Saka, who plays for my beloved Arsenal. They just won the Premier League, looking to win the Champions League this weekend as well.
So there's a lot of talent. And the other part that's interesting is. World Cup's always Produce new stars. Because it's the biggest stage in our sport. And so you could be a player that's.
Had a pretty decorated career, but now if you perform at the World Cup level, it just catapults you into a whole new stratosphere.
So while we talk about the big stars, the Erling Hollands, and I mentioned Mbappe and Messi, of course, Ronaldo, and their kind of last hurrah and last chance for. Ronaldo to potentially win a World Cup. There's going to be a lot of names that we haven't talked about yet that are going to emerge and become focal points throughout the tournament.
Well, you mentioned Bessie. How does the injury impact things with him? I In my, when I put on my doctor's hat, I think he'll be okay. I don't know the severity of the injury, but. But Think that he will be able to.
And listen, I think Argentina's squad is deep enough and strong enough to, even if he wasn't fit for the first game, which I think he will be, they'll be okay. But Messi, I mean, To me he's the greatest player we've ever seen in this sport. And we're spoiled now that he's playing his club soccer here in Major League Soccer, that we get to see him week in, week out, do the. Just mind-blowing things that you see you've seen them do from afar for so long. But Argentina coming into the World Cup, defending champions, it's a position that He's dreamed of being in.
I remember going into the last World Cup, so much of the conversation was: that was going to be it. He was going to play that World Cup. Hopefully, Argentina would win. He could walk out from the international stage as a champion. Then, as soon as you lift that trophy, it's like, well, hey, I don't know.
I want to see what it feels like to come into a World Cup. As a champion. With teams chasing us, with teams, with teams saying we want to strip you of that trophy.
So I think the motivation for him has always been at an all-time high. The guy is a competitor. He hates walking out of games. He hates being substituted. He wants to play every minute of every game.
And for a guy who literally now Has won everything in this sport. He still has a burning desire and hunger to still go out there and win more. When the World Cup is over, Who's gonna win? Number one. Yeah.
Number one, okay. Um I led by saying that France has the deepest squad. And I'm going to lean on France to go out there and And get the job done. They lost last year, or the last World Cup, to Messi in Argentina. In probably the best World Cup final we've ever seen.
Mbappe scores a hat-trick in the final and still is on the losing side.
So I'm gonna I would tip my hat towards France. Who's going to be the biggest star? The biggest star? That's a great question. I would say the biggest star.
New star, or just the biggest star in general? Period, end of star.
Okay, it's going to be Mbappe. If France is going to win, it's going to be Mbappe. What about Newstar then? You're kind of like leading me down the path here. I kind of want a New Star to be someone from the US team.
Like, we know of our players here, but they're still casual fans who haven't been fully introduced to our squad. And, you know, whether it's Christian Pulisake just really kind of. putting his name amongst the greatest that we've ever seen in this country by having an incredible World Cup or Wesson McKinney continuing the form that he's been in at the club level and just showcasing himself on the greatest platform, the biggest platform, Or maybe it's a guy playing in his first World Cup, like Malik Tillman, who rises to the occasion. Whatever, whoever that emerging star is, I'd love for it to be an American and just capture the attention of this country, capture the attention of the whole globe that's going to be tuning in for those six weeks to watch this tournament. Maurice Adu joining us here on The Rich Isand Show.
Rich and I have the best time when we're in Europe. We listen to radio, sometimes when we're driving around. And we've been in Europe a couple of times during World Cups. There's nothing more fun than listening to. A match in a foreign language, especially like Italy, France, England is basically a foreign language, let's face it, right?
But It's so much fun the way the world treats Football. Which fans in which country are the craziest? Ooh, that is a great question. I'm gonna get a lot of slack for this because every fan base feels like theirs is the best. Oh, I didn't say the best.
Yeah, craziest. I said which is the craziest. We can do best next, but what's the craziest? Craziest fans. Uh.
The South American country have some crazy fans. Colombian fans are wild. I mean, if you saw the celebrations when Argentina won the World Cup the last time around, it just speaks to the passion that they have. I hate saying. And giving credit to Mexico, but Mexican fans travel incredibly well.
Um If you look at the history of World Cups, their fans are Or their team is always one of the most well-supported. And now that they're a co-host, I can only imagine what it's going to be like down in Mexico City or Monterrey or Guadalajara. Um I wish Ireland was in the World Cup because their fans are lunatics. Scotland will have some crazy fans as well. I've given you a list there, but.
That's the beauty of it. It's as much as we're competing on the pitch, the fans in their own right are competing off the pitch to showcase what's special about their culture. How much more Deep-rooted their passion is for the game, and that their unique way of celebrating and showing that is more special than the next country's. Yeah, and a little bit of liquid courage goes a long way with the long way, right? Maurice, thanks again for your time.
Really appreciate you coming in the studio. Thank you for having me. Have fun calling. Oh, I will. Where are you looking forward to going to the most?
I have the fortune of being able to touch all three countries.
So I'll be down in Monterey for a little bit. I'll go to Guadalajara for a little bit. Be in the States, of course, and then I'll get up to Canada, Vancouver, for a game or two there, too. I'm looking, it's the first time that a World Cup is being hosted in three different nations, and I have the pleasure of getting a chance to entertain all three.
Well, there's a reason.
Well, have fun. Thank you so much. Best time. Thanks so much for your time. We've got a lot more rich eyes and show and we're coming out.
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So if I read Hold On But if I put my glasses on to start, I would have had the right read. All right, shall we start again? Start over. Rewack. In three, two and one.
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NMLS six nine six eight nine one. Is this thing on? I kind of remembered, Brockman, that kind of reminded me years ago, Psycho Sid. Sid was doing a promo with Jim Ross, and he started his promo and he messed up. He goes, Let's start again.
And Jim Ross is like, oh, we're live. We're live. We're live. I'm going to tell you something like, back in the old days, I would have sweat through that.
Now I'm like, oh, wrong read. Hold on a minute. Let me get my glasses on because I can't see anything. I'll pick up the wrong read. At least I didn't run burgundy it.
'Cause by the way that could happen. Oh boy, guys, um Mike Brabel. Took to the cameras today. Oh, yeah. Did you see that, Chris?
He spoke, yeah. Yeah, Mike Rabel had something to say. Listen, I want to do Let's see what Mike Green wanted to say. We want to continue to improve the roster every opportunity that we get. And when those opportunities arise, I don't know.
I know that the guys that we have here are working extremely hard. You know, so again. We're going to look to strengthen the roster wherever we can, but it was also. A great day to see guys that maybe didn't get as many opportunities last year. uh especially Romeo, who wasn't on our team.
So I'll let you guess. What do you think he was referring to? Hey, when is A.J. Brown coming? Wait a minute.
Who? What? Same guy at the Brown. What say you? The same guy not at Eagles practice today?
A.J. Brown. I don't know what you're talking about.
So the answer to that was: who might make the roster stronger? I don't know, a number one wide receiver likes to read. Maybe it's just Just just shopping for a friend. Just asking. Did you see the rumor?
I love real estate when it. leads to possible indications of what a player may or may not be doing. Like, did you see Giannis was looking for condos in Miami? And who was looking for apartments in Boston recently? Yeah.
AJ Brown. For sale, twenty bedroom in Weston. I wonder why he wants that. He loves to watch the leaves change. I love those.
He just wants a good chowda. You know what I mean? Jan is shopping for a top-floor apartment in New York City. Wait a minute. What?
He just loves theater. I love real estate. He just wants. Delicious. Very funny.
Hey, just glad we're talking about football with Mike Raybel right now. As Pat's fans. Hey now. As Pat's fans, though, this whole AJ Brown thing. How excited?
Get it over with. Sign him already. Let's go. Right? It's tampering.
It's a transition.
Well, I don't think you have any affiliation, so it's not tampering. I'm not tampering. I'm Triple S. I can say whatever I want. I think that's the biggest development of our two.
Right. I haven't been named. I have a new nickname and I am going to use it. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
