Well, how does the U.S. team actually match up with Belgium? What are you expecting there?

I think I'm going to give Belgium just a slight advantage here.

I mean, Belgium, for those who don't know, they're traditionally seen as a dark horse in global soccer.

They're not a powerhouse like Spain or France, but they're a well-respected side, and they're ranked ninth in FIFA's rankings.

And while the U.S. are at number 16, that kind of shows that they're still a step above the Americans.

Fans need to keep an eye on someone like Jeremy Doku, who's a brilliant winger.

Kevin De Bruyne is a global superstar and chance creator.

What have been some of your favorites? I mean, I

And he says soccer has been key in his life to keeping that connection to the home of his ancestors.

And it's something that I'm a little self-conscious about sometimes.

But if you were to strip away soccer from me, I think my personality would be, quite frankly, I guess it would be very Americanized.

In comparison to my family and my tíos and tías, my mom and my grandparents, but like by bringing that soccer element into me, that's kind of what makes me feel, I don't know, incredibly proud of my Mexican heritage.

And a lot of those fans born in the U.S. follow those local teams for the same reason that they might follow the national team, which is tradition.

And Major League Soccer doesn't really have that.

I think there is a recognition from MLS teams and owners that they have yet to really win over a number of Liga Mekis fans.

And I think that when we're talking about connections that Latinos have and Mexican Americans have to those teams back home, that's just something that MLS doesn't have just yet.

What is his... wh- how would you describe his place in this team? 'Cause it seemed to me as recently as, you know, a month ago that, uh, he was a long shot to make it, but, uh, sure enough, there he is right in the, in the squad and, and, you know, getting some minutes and we still don't know quite what his role will be.

Yeah, I mean, right now I think he's a rotational option, and I think what helped him recently was, unfortunately for Mexico, they had the injury to Marcel Ruiz, and I think when Marcel Ruiz was therefore not available for, for Mexico, that then gave that opportunity for Obed to be in this team.

Now if you're gonna ask me, is he gonna be a start at the World Cup? Is he gonna be a key player at the World Cup? I'm not entirely sure about that, but I do think that...

I think that if Mexico are up one-nothing, it's the 70th minute, they need to close out the game, they need kind of a subtle presence in the midfield, not some sort of attacking threat, then that's where I think that Obed will be a key figure.

But we'll see how many minutes he does actually get.

I mean, yesterday's friendly against Serbia, he stayed on the bench, did not get any minutes, and that was pretty much close to the starting 11 that Mexico's gonna have at the World Cup, and we saw some players off the bench will... probably will be having some key roles off the bench.

So I don't think he'll be a truly game in, game out impactful player, but I do think he will get some minutes and be a calming presence for, for El Tri.

That's why players sometimes don't wanna play for them." But what is the feeling going into this World Cup? Is it, is it more positive than it has been?

But, uh, sure enough, there he is, right in the, in the squad and, and, you know, getting some minutes, and we still don't know quite what his role will be.

Yeah, I mean, right now I think he's a rotational option, and I think what helped him recently was, unfortunately for Mexico, they had the injury to Marcel Ruiz.

And I think when Marcel Ruiz was therefore not available for, for Mexico, that then gave that opportunity for Obed to be in this team.

And now if you're gonna ask me, is he gonna be a starter at the World Cup, is he gonna be a key player at the World Cup, I'm not entirely sure about that.

But I do think that...

I think that if Mexico are up one-nothing, it's the 70th minute, they need to close out the game, they need kind of a subtle presence in the midfield, not some sort of attacking threat, then that's where I think that Obed will be a key figure.

But we'll see how many minutes he does actually get.

That's why players sometimes don't wanna play for them." But what is the feeling going into this World Cup? Is it, is it more positive than it has been?

So H- so, so how are those dudes, like the guys that people would know from world football, and then maybe a secondary question to that would be who from the supporting cast do you think are primed to have a good tournament?

Hmm.

Okay, so Raúl Jiménez, he is having a renaissance in his career.

At this point, I think a lot of Mexican soccer fans, they would have assumed that he probably would've made a move back to Liga MX or back to MLS, you know, ahead of a World Cup to really get some minutes, 'cause maybe he can't really cut it in Europe anymore.

But he's still being an effective player for Fulham.

Is he at his peak abilities from when he was w- at Wolves? Uh, definitely not.

He, this is...

[laughs]

So when it comes to San Diego i- in general, I mean, when we talk about expansion teams, it's not the first time that we've seen an expansion team have a great first season here, uh, Cesar, but what's been the key to San Diego's success early on, do you think?

So first off, we know that MLS, just because a designated player's a designated player, doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be a success in Major League Soccer.

But with San Diego, their DP's have literally been following through.

Chuky Lozano has been brilliant, and as, you know, we were just talking about Chucky Lozano there, and obviously he's a big deal for Mexican soccer fans, but Agnes Dwyer has been even better.

And Dwyer is a legitimate MVP candidate alongside Messi this MLS season.

And I think, second, you gotta give a huge amount of credit to head coach Mikey Varas and to sport director Tyler Keeps.

I mean, they said since day one they're gonna play this possession heavy, proactive style of play, and I think a lot of us thought, "Sure, all right, let's see what happens when you h- you guys have a s-, you know, a small dip in form, when you have some mistakes building out from the back." But they've stuck with their system, and all their players are bought in.

I think if, if there needs to be any scaling back, it would probably be on, on the pressure part.

But who can be now those new luxury subs on the bench? Like, who could benefit the most without both of these players being here?

Well, let's think about a certain player who just won a league title, has been arguably the best Liga MX player over the last 12 months.

I know he hasn't stepped up too much for El Tri.

People always talk about the new, "Where's the W- jersey?" It seems a little heavy on him, but I think it's now time for Alexis Vega.

I don't know what you guys think, but I think he's especially someone who could really step up in this opportunity when Chucky's not there.

I'm not saying he's gonna be starting.

I still think in this Javier Aguirre system, where he prioritizes a little bit more of a defensive setup, I still like the idea of a Cesar Huerta on one wing, I still like Jo Alvarado on the other.

That's a good one.