The Away End with Daniel Alarcón and John Green

On Episode 24 of The Away End, Daniel and John recap what we’ve seen so far and preview what’s to come including the USMNT’s prospects of making it to the Round of 16. They talk about surprises like the South American teams’ performances, Europe looking less dominant than usual, and how the African teams had nine out of ten teams advance to the Knockout Rounds. They discuss their brackets, of course, as well...

On Episode 23 of The Away End, Daniel and John begin with a discussion of the differences between Messi and Ronaldo, "The Peru Rule", and the things that have made this Tournament brilliant so far. They reveal the wonders of watching teams that are lacking something competing against each other, older goalkeepers and the USMNT! From “class” chants to regretful praise for Mauricio Pochettino and with a little Colombian a...

On Episode 22 of The Away End, The World Cup brings people together, and that includes Daniel, John and Sean who, after many years or maybe just a year apart, find themselves reunited together again! John was watching the USMNT from Norway at 3 AM. Daniel was in Philadelphia's Fan Zone for Cape Verde's already legendary draw against Spain that may be the best defense yet for expanding the tournament even more in the future! And lis...

On Episode 21 of The Away End podcast, the road to the long-awaited bracket reveal has come to an end! But first, Daniel and John have a disagreement over what John facetiously dubbed, “one of the greatest moments in World Cup history” that Daniel surmises began with a schoolyard promise between Dibu and El Loco. They discuss some of their most anticipated matches, and listener questions lead them to arrive at the healt...

On Episode 20 of The Away End podcast, Daniel is recovering from a whirlwind weekend that included watching vignettes of the UEFA Champions League final between PSG and Arsenal on his phone's screen as he was being called to make an important speech. A discussion about the USMNT's win over Senegal leads to a discussion about Mauricio Pochettino's questionable approach of dismissing players like Diego Luna from the 26-man roster via...

After Daniel takes a victory lap for his (Arsenal's) finish atop the Premiere League and talks about sharing the joy with his son Eliseo, albeit for different reasons, John, Daniel, and Sean read and discuss several listener questions. Plus a most excellent listener story about being an American in Spain while Spain was winning the World Cup!

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On Episode 18 of The Away End, Daniel’s story about watching the Arsenal v. West Ham game and the aftermath leads John to zero in on a major problem with human behavior. In his Brazil deep dive, Daniel introduces us to jogo bonito (The Beautiful Game), talks about his hero Ronaldinho and wonders if Brazil has recovered from the 7-1 loss to Germany in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup. Plus, John continues to construct the...

Author of the new book, World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments, Simon Kuper joins The Away End for a discussion about football and the complexity of national identity, the globalization of style at the top of the game and the lower quality of football that expansion of the World Cup could bring. They talk about the intellectual pursuit of the game and the counterpoint that expanding the tournament will lead to an evo...

On Episode 16 of The Away End, John has returned from England with something on his heart. After letting it out, he deep dives into the Haitian National Team. And Daniel tells the story of Jorge, his Honduran fixer who created an unexpected, impenetrable forcefield around him that revealed its real power during a walk to the stadium for the final of the Honduran League in the most violent country in Latin America at the time. 

On Episode 15 of The Away End, Daniel begins with a call to action regarding the current, Kafkaesque reality of being a football fan and wishing to attend a World Cup game. Then Daniel's deep dive into the South Korean National Team brings back memories of a long-lost friend, "Hyun" and the crushing return of a symbolic gesture in a brown paper bag. John is fresh off his return from Sierra Leone and shares a lovely story about socc...

On Episode 14 of The Away End, John and Daniel start with a discussion about the heartbreaking injury of the great Liverpool player, Hugo Ekitike and the implications it has on the World Cup, along with several other poorly-timed injuries, less than two months out from kickoff. Then, Daniel and John give their perspective on gambling and the dilution of the shared experience of sport and the problems that arise as a result. Plus a ...

On Episode 13 of The Away End, Daniel sets the tone with a story of his recent trip to London to see Arsenal play Bournemouth, and the ensuing disappointment and heckling he experienced as a result of his team's loss. John covers this week's deep dive into Germany and explains why he thinks they may not make it too far in the tournament. Then Daniel shares a story about the time he interviewed Lionel Messi during his Barcelona FC d...

On Episode 12 of The Away End, John and Daniel unpack the wins and losses of the final World Cup playoff games and begin to look ahead, now that the 48 World Cup teams are set. Daniel does a deep dive into the Bosnia and Herzegovina National team, and John highlights Ali Al-Hamadi, a star player on the Iraqi team and former member of AFC Wimbledon.

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On Episode 11, Daniel and John dissect the latest in the saga of the AFCON Final aftermath between Senegal and Morocco, John does a deep dive into the English National team, and Daniel recounts the story of when he played an epic football game at a Peruvian prison known as Castro Castro. Finally, Daniel and John read a couple emails from the listener mailbag.

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On Episode 10, John and Daniel break down the World Cup Playoffs and discuss which teams have the best chance to advance. Daniel does a deep dive into the French National Team, and John regales us with the origin story of AFC Wimbledon, a team close to his heart.

Plus, John and Daniel read listener emails, one of which comes with a special song!

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On Episode 9, Daniel and John break down the latest news with Iran's national team, Daniel points and laughs gleefully at the misery of Arsenal’s crosstown rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, John does a deep dive into the Netherlands, and Daniel tells the powerful story of Chilean legend Carlos Caszely, whose greatest achievement may have come off the pitch, and the infamous 1973 match against the  Phantom Team. 

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On Episode 8 of The Away End, we have our first guests! Miguel Salazar and Alex Shephard are the creators and founders of a new print magazine about football called Golden Goal, and they join John and Daniel to talk about their new journalistic venture and how it ties into the World Cup. Daniel takes a look at Japan's national team and asks: what is it about this team that sparks joy? And John regales us with a story about a financ...

John's back! We're less than 100 days out from kick off in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and on today's episode, John and Daniel start things off by breaking down their hierarchy of loyalties with the teams in this year's World Cup. Then, John leads the way on a deep dive of the USMNT. Could this finally be their year? And Daniel tells a story about how he ended up with some sweet purple sneakers with a questionable team's...