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the former US men's national team goalkeeper Brad Kazen and uh joining us on behalf of one of our sponsor uh Dude Wipes. So Fox Sports World Cup analyst and uh he was the goalender for a couple of US World Cup teams and joins us on the program. All right, tell me what I need to know about Team USA. Uh they're exciting, man. It's uh it's going to be uh hopefully a good summer. They need to get off to a good start against Paraguay. uh if they can pick up three points in the first game um to be able to finish top of the group uh allows them listen at any point they're going to have to play a big powerhouse if you
will. Um but that's going to allow them the path I think of least resistance. Um and so Christian Ballistic is playing with confidence. Chris Richards is back healthy. The goalkeeping situation is a hot topic. I think Matt Fest will end up playing in goal based off the last friendly against Germany in Chicago. Um, so yeah. Can is there any comparison between uh hockey goalie, soccer goalie as far as they stand on their head and make all these saves. We hear that in hockey all the time.
Yeah. I mean, we're going to need whoever's in goal. We're going to need our goalkeeper to make saves in these tournaments to do something special. you're you're going to need to have your goalkeeper make one or two big saves in a game or you may need them to stand on their head and make 10 12 15 saves as Tim Howard did in 2014 in Brazil. So um you know and even then we fell short against Belgium. So you're you're going to need your goalkeeper to come up big. We keep waiting for that next surge in soccer that you know we thought okay 2010 and 2014 or when we hosted the World Cup and why is it we're still waiting for this Brad why it's it's slowly growing it's slowly
growing um you know when you go back to the 94 World Cup the league Major League Soccer was then built in 96 off of the back in '94 and then when you look forward to where we are now in terms of the expansion of the league, the growth of the league, the notoriety of players that are coming to Major League Soccer to, you know, sharpen their craft as a professional soccer player. That's exciting for the growth of sport here in the United States. And I think it's uh it's only going to continue to grow. you know, these leagues, whether you're talking about American, you know, baseball, whether American football, talking about football over in England or in Europe, they weren't built in 30 years. Uh, you know, 50, 75, 100red
years to develop this passion and this ability to pass down the love of a team from generation to generation. And so, um, we're working our way there and I think this summer is certainly going to help that. explain to the audience why Messi is like he's he is whoever whatever comparison you want to make to any other athlete you know in United States like what is it about him uh for a guy who's not big not necessarily fast no but it's it's not about that right and I think when you look at the American athlete we talk about those attributes that you just mentioned big strong fast powerful But when you talk about Messi as a footballer, his creative uh awareness, his spatial awareness, his ability on the ball is so
good to be able to bring other players into the game, right? He's able to do things, see passes that other players aren't able to see. And all of a sudden, with one pass of the ball, it unlocks a defense. or maybe he pops up in a situation in and around the box and now he's be he's being able to find the back of the net with a unbelievable shot or just the understanding of what the goalkeeper is doing and knowing he just got to casually pass the ball into the bottom corner the opposite of way the goalkeeper, you know, anticipating him to go. Best player you ever faced? Best goal scorer you ever faced?
I think we just spoke about him. I think he Did he score on you? uh he scored on me a few times, but at the same time, I must say, we did get the better of Inter Miami when I was playing with Atlanta United uh in the playoff series. I think we not only upset um Inter Miami and their team. you know, we had just snuck into the playoffs, but I think we certainly upset uh the league office and everybody that was potentially uh you know, putting money on the game thinking Inter Miami was going to walk all over us, but we did get the better of him that series. Brad Gazan, he is working for Fox, their World Cup studio analyst, soccer commentator, and he was part of two US World Cup teams, 2010 2014. uh joining us on behalf of Dude Wipes. You
spent your whole career to get to this moment promoting Dude Wipes. Brad, congratulations. Messi does it. Although you could bring in the word messy and with dude wipes, I think we could have a collaboration here. I like where your head's at. I like Clean up your messy. Clean up your Exactly. It's 2026. Nobody's using dry toilet paper anymore. Come on now. But you're handing out brown cards, dude wipes. We are. Yeah. I mean, listen, the initiative around the World Cup and the excitement, as I just mentioned, nobody's using dry toilet paper anymore.
Going out to these watch parties, these fanfests, and seeing, you know, people come in and out of porter botties. Come on now. If you're not carrying a dude wipe on you, you're getting a brown card. uh dudewipes.com/browncard and uh you can get a brown card plus a free 10 uh pack uh dude wipes and you can give that out to anybody that uh you think needs that help. All right, give us the best case scenario team USA like what is reality here? Yeah, I mean, listen, first and foremost, we need to get out of the group and then obviously the tournament this summer has expanded and so we need to be able to win some knockout round games and I think if we can get to the round of 16, we're going to have to play a
powerhouse, a soccer powerhouse from around the world somewhere. And in that moment, anything could happen. And I've said if we can create one of these iconic moments such as the goal against Algeria in 2010 or one of these moments where an entire country is going to get behind the team, I think anything's possible. And so I think if we can get to the round of 16 and have this excitement and the buzz within the United States, get behind the boys, I think they can make their way to a quarterfinal and, you know, the sky's is the limit at that point. Great to talk to you, Brad. Have fun.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
