SuperTalk Media MidDays with Gerard Gibert 2026-07-07

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Drake Bassett** (0:23)
Get ready to go beyond the headlines and join a meaningful conversation with people from around the state.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:32)
You're listening to MidDays with Gerard Gibert here on SuperTalk Mississippi.

**Gerard Gibert** (1:00)
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to MidDays SuperTalk Mississippi. I'm your host, Gerard Gibert, along with Rhino in the Element Wealth Studio, guiding you through the middle of your day with facts, fodder, and fine music. Man, that was disappointing, Rhino. I really thought they had a chance going into it. But, I mean, they did.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:23)
If the US Men's National Team had shown up last night and had been able to roll with the punches and impose their will on the match, like they were able to for stretches of the match, but not really effectively, then it would have been at least a presentable performance.
But that was just pathetic. I mean, Malik Tillman had that brief moment of brilliance becoming only, I think, the second person ever to have two free-kick goals at a single World Cup.
I mean, there are other players that have done that, names that you've likely heard of, even if you've never considered soccer to be a sport you want to pay attention to, like Pele or Beckham. Those are the kind of names of people that have free-kick goals at World Cups. Tillman had two for the US this World Cup. So that's about the only bright spot, the only silver lining on that performance. They came out flat, overwhelmed, and got punched in the mouth in the first minute. And seemed shell-shocked after that.

**Gerard Gibert** (2:30)
Didn't look like the same team.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:32)
No, not the same level of confidence, not the same level of communication, not the hustle to get into open passing lanes and to provide outlets for your fellow teammates that were in trouble.
Just all around a poor performance. But even in that poor performance, I tweeted about it on social media, there was that 61-second window where it seemed like the football gods were going to smile upon the team America, and it was going to be okay. All of that dread that had come creeping in from that first minute, just kind of washed away and you're like, all right, it's 1-1, game on, let's regroup, let's get this going and then to immediately give up another soft goal within two minutes of time, like 60 seconds of actual play, was just disappointing. Then the goalie, Matt Freeze, just flubbing a clearance. Just you got to kick that ball. You can't put your toe in the dirt. You can't make those kind of mistakes at that level.
And they got punished. And you could tell the whole thing got deflated. I said yesterday, a loss would be disappointing, not deflating, because I didn't think they had this kind of loss in them. I didn't think they would come out this flat. But they did. And when it went down 3-1, there were flashes of brilliance. There were moments of inspiration. You could tell certain guys on the team never gave up, but some of them did. And you got to point the finger to Christian Pulisic. You don't like to kick a man when he's down, because he hurt himself.
But this was the World Cup for him to come out. And whether or not he wants to be the face of the team, whether or not he wants to be a star, he was the world-class talent the team was depending on, and he was pretty much silent for the majority of this World Cup. I know you don't want to talk bad about somebody that got injured, but that's become a part of his story. He has not risen to the heights he was seemingly set for, because he can't stay healthy.

**Gerard Gibert** (4:47)
Well, and I really was disappointed in the only salvation for me last night is after that, flipping the channels, Rudy was on, and it kind of lifted my spirits. That's always such a cool, feel-good movie, so well done. Great American story of grit and determination and playing, obviously, way above your, punching above your weight as the saying goes, and playing above your skills and your size.

**SPEAKER_1** (5:20)
And that just seems to be something this team can't do. I mean, every single box has been checked, every single cycle to try to get better, to try to raise the level. But it appears the round of 16 is Team USA's level, and it's going to take a gargantuan effort to overcome that, it seems. I mean, everything else has been pumped into this. We've had cycles in the past where a lot of focus is put on a core group, or a young squad, or a new flashy coach, or this or that. And ultimately, it comes down to, hopefully, this is my optimism. This is my putting on my fan hat and being as optimistic as possible after a deflating loss like that. My hope is that there is a eight, 10, 12 year old kid that watched this whole tournament, got caught up in all the excitement and the fun and the run up to last night, and saw that loss as inspiration for becoming the next best thing. And it very well may be 12, 16 years down the road before we see that.