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Sports

Please Enjoy Mike Francesa Lose it Because Sports Illustrated Put Messi on the Cover

"Where is the summer of soccer gonna be? I have no idea."

Mike Francesa is just absolutely puzzled that Sports Illustrated put Lionel Messi on the cover and dubbed this summer "the summer of soccer." There are a few soccer tournaments coming up—not to mention the Olympics—featuring some of the game's best players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, the aforementioned Messi, and, uh, Brad Guzan. Copa America kicks off on June 3rd here in the States, giving a whole lot of Americans a chance to see players like Messi and Sergio Aguero play in competitive games live and in person. And the best teams in Europe will face off when Euro 2016 kicks off in France one week later, on June 10th. Big stars. Big games. Uh, Big deal, OK?

"Where is the summer of soccer gonna be? I have no idea," Francesa says before launching into a nearly nine-minute screed about how out of touch he and his staff are when it comes to the world's most popular sport. He then counts to 11, to note the apparently absurd number of pages SI devoted to soccer. "11 pages? you gotta be kidding me."

Francesa then reads some more about Messi: "'Look out America, he's gonna emblazon America.' Where is he going to emblazon America this summer? Exactly where?"

I think he also thinks the two tournaments, separated by a continent and the Atlantic Ocean, are the same tournament. He then pronounces the name of soccer's governing body as "fie-fuh." And one of his producers thinks Messi plays in The MLS.

Mike Francesa is the most listened-to sports talk radio host in New York City, by a wide margin, and has no use for your little soccer games.