Pedro Dolabella Pt 1 - Union Omaha’s MVP & Endrick CRAZY Story - E3

Union Omaha’s star man Pedro Dolabella joins Jamil Roberts and Dom Okus on this week's edition of the back stick podcast. The Brazilian shares his journey from Brazil to the US, his experiences in the Sao Paolo academy system, and the challenges faced by young men in Brazil, such as Endrick. The conversation delves into the cultural differences and similarities between England and Brazil, the importance of football as a means of escape from difficult circumstances, and the support systems in place for young footballers in Brazil. Pedro reflects on his recent achievements, including winning the USL League One double with Union Omaha, and the emotional journey of the playoffs. The discussion also touches on the dynamics of playing against friends as Pedro & Jam face off for the first time in their professional careers after being teammates for so long. 

Enjoy Part 1, Part 2 coming soon!

00:00 Introduction

01:04 Accolades: Pedro Dolabella

04:12 "A New Journey In New Jersey"

08:27 Sao Paulo & Brazilian Youth Football

11:25 Brazil & England - Football is the Only Escape

14:18 Ravel Morrison, Nile Ranger etc.. Football & Violent Backgrounds

16:13 Endrick CRAZY Story

21:09 'Goalabella'

21:57 Scoring in Finals & Jam is Pedro's HERO?

23:19 Mechack Jérôme - GET WELL SOON!!!

25:59 Union Omaha 2024 Play Off Run & Winning for Mechack!

31:38 Message for Mechack & 2024 Reflections

32:35 Dolabella vs Roberts?! Friends to Enemies

35:12 Scouting & Opponent Analysis Insights

37:42 "Nice Guys Win Nothing" - No Friends On The Field!!

39:07 Part 2 Preview.... Building a Championship Team at Marshall

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Transcript

Jamil Roberts (00:00)
Hello everyone and welcome to the Backstik Podcast. I'm Jamil Roberts and I'm joined here as usual by Mr. Dom Ocas. Dom, how are you mate?

Dom Okus (00:10)
I'm lovely mate, I'm lovely mate. I know at the beginning of these shows I usually say I've had a long day at work, but I haven't today. It's early, I'm feeling good, I've got a fresh trim. Because I've got a fresh trim, I'm feeling great, about to get some great food today. And obviously we're gonna talk to our Brazilian friend, Mr. Pedro. So just wanna say welcome to the podcast bro, it's gonna be a good one.

Jamil Roberts (00:18)
Why is that? Why is that?

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Pedro Dolabella (00:34)
Thanks guys, thanks Joma, thanks Zulon, thanks for having me, I'm excited to talk to you guys.

Dom Okus (00:39)
this.

Jamil Roberts (00:39)
Yeah, and as a we mate and just for all of the listeners out there This this recording is being is taking place on Thanksgiving so From all of us to the backstick podcast happy Thanksgiving Whether you celebrate or not to all the listeners. We're thankful for you and Thankful to Pedro's here and let's get on with the episode. So Pedro my boy We met a long time ago

Way back in Huntington, West Virginia. We now find ourselves on this show and a lot has happened between you and I in that time. I'm not gonna talk about me, I'm gonna talk about you. So, I'm gonna go through the long list of accolades that this man has racked up since me and him met way back in 2017. So, we're gonna go back.

start off with an NCAA Division I national champion, 2021 Conference USA Player of the Year, 2022 MLS Next Pro Team of the Season, 2023 USL One League winner, 2024 USL One Player of the Year finalist, and just recently, congratulations on becoming...

the 2024 USL League One League and Playoff double winners with Union Omaha. Mate, you are smashing it. Talk us through that little portion of success in your life and then just a little touch on the 2024 season for you.

Pedro Dolabella (02:25)
No, course, especially in 2024 season, I had to win the cup just to match your accolades, because you won the cup too, so like, no, can't be far behind Jamma.

Jamil Roberts (02:34)
May welcome to the winner's circle my boy welcome to the winner's circle

Dom Okus (02:41)
I love it, I love it.

Pedro Dolabella (02:44)
Nah, but like you said, we met back in 2017. Maybe back then we weren't the best of friends, but we always respected each other a lot. We always talked highly about each other. We worked so hard on the field, matter what. But yeah, almost 10 years. It's coming. It's coming, the 10 year anniversary. It's been a long journey, but...

Jamil Roberts (02:57)
Absolutely.

Mm hmm. Crazy man. Crazy.

Pedro Dolabella (03:13)
It's just getting started, I feel like.

Jamil Roberts (03:16)
Yeah, yeah, you're not wrong mate, you're not wrong. And I think it's funny that you bring that up because I actually, I do forget and people I don't think would ever guess that me and you didn't actually get on very well our freshman year. It wasn't, or maybe it wasn't that we didn't get on, it was just maybe two very different people at the time. And certainly I think like a lot of lads that come over from England.

Had a bit of a chip on his shoulder, thought he was gonna run the rooster a little bit. Yeah, for sure. Very, very divided at the time. I don't think it was anything to do with me and Pedro, specifically. However, obviously I can only talk about my experience and sort of turned up and realized I wasn't king of the hill and had to adapt to that. But Pedro, what was it?

Pedro Dolabella (03:51)
Yeah, we had different groups. Yeah, we had different groups, you know.

Jamil Roberts (04:13)
Obviously you went a little bit of a different route to me to get to Marshall. So firstly, I just want to touch on why did you end up at Pennington School and do high school in America as opposed to staying in Brazil a little bit longer and then making the jump to college?

Pedro Dolabella (04:32)
No, obviously, when I was already back in 2014, it was my second year in Sao Paulo, you in the academy. But I was already not playing much and like, we're not stupid, you know, we're players, we already know what the deal is. So I started to like look at other options and I always like...

Jamil Roberts (04:47)
Mm-hmm.

Pedro Dolabella (04:51)
I went to an American school growing up and I had this thing of going to the US. I always wanted to go to the US to do something, you know, to use my English or like, because I really liked the culture from the start. And then I got in touch with an agency that obviously now it's more and more popular that brings players from Brazil to the US to go to college, to go to high school, just to start a new life. And I didn't feel like...

Jamil Roberts (05:12)
Yeah, huge now, man, huge.

Pedro Dolabella (05:20)
going back home and living with my parents. So I started to train once a week over there, even though I was still in Sao Paulo. I would go there kind of hidden, just to get to know the agency and I get familiar with the coaches and with the owners. And then they organized the trip to a Disney showcase, a Disney Cup, if you would say, in December.

So that's when I went for the first time to play soccer in the US against like some MLS academies and all that. And then I really enjoyed like how it worked over there. The quality of the pitches, you know, the way they valued football, know, like everything on the news. And then I had a friend of mine that went with me to the showcase and then he ended up going to this high school in New Jersey. And then...

Jamil Roberts (05:53)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Pedro Dolabella (06:20)
He had a great year there, senior year, whatever, preparing him to go to college. And then he told the coach, you need to get Pedro, bring him in. And then I was kind of a bit lost in Brazil. You know, didn't know what my next step was. I really wanted to go to the US, but I didn't know if it was going to happen or not. So then back in 2016, I was about to graduate high school in Brazil, halfway through.

And then in the middle of the year, I decided to go to the US to go to this New Jersey, a new journey in New Jersey. That was a tough one to say. But it was amazing. was amazing. mean, again, everything paid off, it was a... Living home is never easy, even though, I mean, we played Academy, but especially going to a different country, home is not like an hour away anymore. It's like three planes.

Jamil Roberts (06:55)
hahahahah

Pedro Dolabella (07:15)
So it's different.

Jamil Roberts (07:15)
Mm-hmm Yeah, I I just want to circle back a little bit. so you mentioned there that your boy was already at Pennington What was his name? Because I think there's a lot of people out there that need to thank him For making sure that you went there and went and started the journey that you went on. So what was his name?

Pedro Dolabella (07:19)
the

Mm-hmm.

No, funny enough, his name is Paulo. Paulo. Paulo Ayres And he always played with me here growing up and stuff, but he was never 100 % focused, you know, he was just more for the vibes. But like I kind of, you know, like travel with him around, like he was friends with Diaz as well, Victor Diaz. And then we...

Dom Okus (07:44)
You

Jamil Roberts (07:48)
okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Pedro Dolabella (08:10)
And then he told the coach and then, you know, and you're far away from home and like he, that's all you have to do is play soccer and you just give it a hundred percent because there's no other other stuff going on. So that's how it was for me.

Dom Okus (08:27)
Quick question I had. So you mentioned that being at Sao Paulo and being away from home. So does the academy system in Brazil work where you go and live at the academy and you're kind of like in a school with Sao Paulo? Is that how that works?

Pedro Dolabella (08:41)
Yes, yes. was... São Paulo was known back in the day to be the best academy, the best structure. Everybody wanted to go to São Paulo because 10 years ago, the other teams, they didn't put too much money in the academy. Where the players lived was not good. So the parents, I would say, from other players were kind of reluctant to let the kids go.

So like Sao Paulo was different. Like the first time I went to Sao Paulo for a trial was in 2009. So from when I moved to Sao Paulo was to 2013. So four years since I was 10 years old, I would go like three times a year to spend a whole week there training with Sao Paulo to see if they still liked me. So it was like, I don't know, going back to your long...

Jamil Roberts (09:38)
Wow.

Pedro Dolabella (09:39)
Distance a girlfriend, you know when you when you go back home and you say do I still like her? Okay, come back I'm still your player. So you keep going back keep going back until long distance ends and then you when you turn like 13 That's when they're like, okay now you come live with us They're like 200 players in the final tryout and then like they said we picked 40 players

Jamil Roberts (09:41)
you

Ha

WAH!

Pedro Dolabella (10:07)
to live here and like start U14 over there. So that's pretty much in 2013. January, I got the call like, Pedro, you've been approved to you, Sao Paulo player, like this year contract. And then from there, like you live in the facilities and then private school every morning, you know, like, which for many of the kids, coming from poor places, they like never went to school, never, you know, like...

Dom Okus (10:21)
interesting.

Pedro Dolabella (10:36)
were like three years behind from their age. So it was like a different environment for sure.

Jamil Roberts (10:43)
Yeah. Yeah.

Dom Okus (10:43)
Wow. Jam, can you imagine like at 14, getting up and leaving and going, I don't know, from where you grew up to like Manchester or something or Newcastle, like just on your own,

Jamil Roberts (10:51)
Nah, mean if it was United, I think I'd be alright, but anywhere else But no, it's 100 % mate and Brazil's like Brazil is not a little country like we're talking about, you know, just up north in England so that you know, I correct me if I'm wrong Pedro, but but Brazil is How far from say, I don't know like the southern part of Brazil if lads are coming up to to

Pedro Dolabella (10:57)
Yeah

Jamil Roberts (11:19)
sign for Sao Paulo? Like, are they flying up? Is that a long drive? You what does that look like?

Pedro Dolabella (11:25)
No, Brazil is huge, you know, like it's like, have like over 200 million people in the country and like it's most South America is Brazil. So it's like, it's far, it's far away. Like me from my drive from here to Sao Paulo, for example, it's like 16 hours, 14 hours. So I couldn't drive home. I had to fly like everywhere and in the South, even like further away, the South, it's, had to take two flights sometimes.

Dom Okus (11:43)
wow.

Pedro Dolabella (11:56)
So, but yeah, for many of the kids, was like the chance to change their life and their life of their families, you know? it was there and then you get like some players that like maybe had more conditions, you know, come from like family that had like more, you know, like money or whatever. And they saw you like, why are you here? Like, you don't need it. Like you're taking my spot.

Jamil Roberts (12:03)
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

Yeah, yeah.

Pedro Dolabella (12:23)
why you go home you know like I need this you know so like in some cases like

Jamil Roberts (12:26)
Yeah Nah dog eat dog dog eat dog you know and That's it's very do you know what a lot of a lot of other nations and I've been told this It whilst I've been in America as well, but maybe not To the level that you're experiencing there or sorry that you're talking about there Pedro But you know England and Brazil are very synonymous in that

Dom Okus (12:29)
Interesting. Yeah, Yeah, interesting, man. Wow.

Pedro Dolabella (12:32)
No, %

Jamil Roberts (12:54)
for some kids and for a lot of families, it's the only, football's the only way out, you know? Like you could have bad kids or poor families or poor living conditions and you see, football is the only way out. And if it's not that, then what do these kids do? You know, you hear so many stories. One that always sticks out to me was the documentary where they followed the Brazil team in Copa America and they talked about Gabriel Jesus.

Pedro Dolabella (13:01)
No, 100%.

Jamil Roberts (13:23)
And like just hearing what he went from to get to obviously playing for Man City and Arsenal and the national team It's real like it is dog eat dog and everyone is fighting not just for a contract But they're fighting for the lives of themselves and their family's future is is is really that serious

Dom Okus (13:43)
I'll complete the great MV.

Pedro Dolabella (13:44)
No, it is.

Dom Okus (13:47)
you think about some of the greatest players that have played for England, I'm sure it's the same for Brazil, but you think about Wayne Rooney, he grew up in kind of like a council environment. You think about Rio Ferdinand, he grew up on one of the most notorious estates in Peckham. You think about Steven Gerrard, all of these players come from really, really humble beginnings. And so for them to get the opportunity to go from that to completely changing their family's lives for generations as well, right? This isn't just the thing where you're rich now. Your kids, kids, kids, kids are looked after.

Jamil Roberts (13:54)
Council estate.

Dom Okus (14:16)
because of what you've been able to achieve. it's amazing what football can do,

Jamil Roberts (14:20)
Yeah, honestly, so on that pedro actually

Pedro Dolabella (14:23)
No, crime is the... Just to point out as well, agreeing with you guys, like crime is the easiest way out. All the kids' friends are going to the bad path and then for one of them to stick out and say, no, don't want any of that. I don't want to be associated with you guys and I'm going to take the path of soccer. So it's like on football, it's it's crazy how football save lives, like you guys said.

Jamil Roberts (14:27)
Mm. Mm. Yeah, yeah, go ahead.

Yeah, yeah, I mean it's exact same as I'm sure it's more synonymous in London Dom than I'll be honest this call a spade a spade is it's probably more synonymous in London than most parts of the world that you know for some kids it is football or Falling into crime you think about lads like for example Ravel Morrison Obviously up at United and and you know just yeah. Yeah, exactly you know like just

Dom Okus (14:51)
person.

Now, range up.

Jamil Roberts (15:19)
Lads that were so talented that were just dragged the other way. So it's not just about, you know, going one way or the other. It's about sticking to that path as well. Because, you know, Ravel Morrison, you've got Alex Ferguson saying he's the best player he's ever seen. And he, what, played two games for United, had one decent season at West Ham where you thought this guy's a freak. And then other than that, just never did anything because, you know, for whatever reason in his personal life.

just never reached the level that he should have got to. So it is mad how England and Brazil are very similar in that aspect.

Dom Okus (15:59)
So Pedro, this actually leads me to a really good segue in that, and this probably doesn't apply to you, but I think about a player like Ravel Morrison, or I think about player like Nair Ranger, who have come from very humble beginnings, very violent backgrounds, and I'm sure it's the same in Brazil. So what is the club doing for these players who you say at 14 are three years behind their reading level and stuff like that? What is the club doing to make sure that they're taken care of in that way, if anything?

Pedro Dolabella (16:31)
Now there's a interesting story with Endrick to answer your question. Endrick is from Brasilia, to where I'm from. We had a partnership with our local club in São Paulo to send players to do well here and go to São Paulo for trials. But Andric's family was very, very poor. And São Paulo...

Obviously he was a beast growing up, the best player academy, whatever, everybody wanted him. And São Paulo had the policy that they couldn't have the whole family move to the city just for the player. If you're 12 years old, whatever, they just would bring the player in, the family is like, I'm sorry. And so they offer him like...

Zero money pretty much for Andric. He couldn't help his family at all. He went to Palmeiras after that. After he said, no, I don't want to stay in Sao Paulo. And Palmeiras took his father in as a kit man for the academy. First of all, think he was a janitor cleaning the locker rooms and stuff while Andric was playing.

Jamil Roberts (17:46)
Wow.

Mm-mm.

Pedro Dolabella (17:59)
youth academy, would live in U-12, whatever. And then after Janitor they promoted his father as a kit man of the academy. And then after that, he became the kit man of the first team, Endrick's father. like they provided like a pathway for his family, you know, like because of how good Endrick was and they were able to, you know, help him develop and maybe he's...

He's still very young. He's not maybe the best player that we wanted him to be right now, which obviously it's like so hard for a guy that's like 17, 18 years old. But just to see like how some of the clubs are able to like help these kids like stay on the right path and provide for their families. It's like, it's great. It's like Palmeiras changed the life of Endrick for example, and his family, I would say.

Jamil Roberts (18:49)
Yeah. And that's such a big commitment at that age as well. That's unbelievable from the football club. And obviously they're not doing that for every single player and they must have seen that something special in him. But clearly they were right because he's gone on to play for Real Madrid and I'm sure Palmeiras have got more than their...

Pedro Dolabella (19:02)
Mm-hmm.

Jamil Roberts (19:14)
share of compensation in the fee that they got from Real Madrid. So I'm sure it worked out well for everyone in the end.

Dom Okus (19:20)
Yeah, don't you just think it's crazy though that as a 12 year old you've got your family on your back? Like how much pressure is that as a 12 year old like the livelihood of myself and my family depends on how well I kick this football and he's just like bearing that and he's just bearing that wearing it and like just turning up every day it's crazy. 12 years old madness.

Pedro Dolabella (19:21)
No, 100%.

Jamil Roberts (19:27)
Yeah.

Pedro Dolabella (19:43)
It's insane. They're your family move cities for you and you're like, you're telling yourself.

Jamil Roberts (19:51)
But mate, it makes sense now when you see that he comes on for Real Madrid and he's got Vini Jr. on one side, he's got Rodrigo on one side, he's got Mbappe ahead of him and he shoots from 30 yards. Like, he's just had the weight of his family's future on his shoulders since he was 12 years old.

I'm sure he looks left and right and goes Vinnie don't worry about it yet. Rodrigo stay over there and Bapé just move out the way a little bit cuz I'm gonna yeah, there you go Yeah, yeah, I'm all good. Yeah. Yeah cool like that Some stones on the kid bloody hell

Pedro Dolabella (20:16)
Heh.

Dom Okus (20:28)
Yeah madness.

Pedro Dolabella (20:28)
Yes, a lot.

Shinzei, the best players of the world around you and you're like, I'm not going to give you the ball. Screw it.

Jamil Roberts (20:37)
Yeah.

god, mate, that's an excellent start to the show. I did not expect us to dig as deep as we got into that. That was brilliant. But I think obviously we've discussed a lot of the past and sort of Brazil. And I want to talk about the present and what has recently happened, So obviously as we discussed at the beginning, you've recently won the double, the USL one double. And you were a finalist and a player of the year.

Dom Okus (20:50)
Thanks.

Jamil Roberts (21:10)
to go along with it. Got the nickname Goalabella this year from the league. What was it? 16 goals and four or five assists?

Pedro Dolabella (21:16)
Yeah

Yeah, something like that.

Jamil Roberts (21:23)
Yeah, yeah. He's got one in the final, so it's nice. As I said, he's joining the club, scoring in the final, USL winners club. You know, it's nice to have you in,

Dom Okus (21:24)
I don't even know too many too many to count too many to count

Pedro Dolabella (21:40)
Yeah, you know something about that, scoring in finals. You piece of sh*t!

Dom Okus (21:46)
hahahaha

Jamil Roberts (21:48)
Dom, do you wanna know what's funny? Yeah, and I know Pedro remembers this So we'll touch on Marshall later on but in the semi-final, right? So the semi-final is North Carolina There's a picture of me and him like looking at each other after we like celebrating the goal and it looks like Like literally like we're looking at each other like it's like Jesus like in a mirror, you know, like we just saw like the Holy Grail

Pedro Dolabella (21:51)
huh.

Dom Okus (22:13)
Ha

Jamil Roberts (22:16)
And the funny thing is, is I know what actually happened in that reality, is he gave me a hug, and he went, Jamma you motherf***er, you're taking all my dreams.

Pedro Dolabella (22:16)
Yeah

Dom Okus (22:25)
AHAHAHAHA

Pedro Dolabella (22:26)
He's making my dreams come true, this guy.

Jamil Roberts (22:35)
you

Pedro Dolabella (22:35)
That's why he's my hero forever. Forever Jamil is my hero. Forever. Nothing will ever change that.

Dom Okus (22:35)
Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Jamil Roberts (22:41)
But anyway, but I just give us a brief rundown of the playoffs You know brief summary of all the games and then obviously the final you get your goal Just talk us through that in a little bit of detail there

Pedro Dolabella (23:06)
No, straight to the playoffs you want talk about, okay. Because the, yeah, no, the playoffs, I mean, the playoffs involves a lot of our teammate, Mishak, know, Jerome Mishak, Mechack Jérôme Because we were going to play Saturday, you know, and what happened Saturday or Sunday and what happened to him happened like two days before the game, you know, the accident.

Jamil Roberts (23:09)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Of course, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Pedro Dolabella (23:37)
So like, but besides that, we had a big chip, like chip on our shoulders from the year before back in 2023. I mean, we won the league, but we lost semifinals at home on PKs to Charlotte and we dominated the game. And like, we were like, okay, you're a good, you guys are a good team, but when it gets tough, when the play out, when it's go time, you guys crumble, you know, like you guys can't, can't finish the job. this year,

Jamil Roberts (23:57)
you

Pedro Dolabella (24:06)
We went to playoffs at home again, another chance to play the three games at home. So we're ready to face it locked in. You know, we just won against Ormanta and then had the celebrated with the trophy at the field. And then boom, I accidentally with Misiek. We didn't know really much what happened. Like we trained, he didn't show up. We were speculating where is he, you know, and then after training, we had a meeting and they said that.

terrible thing had happened, but we didn't know how bad it was. We just heard that he was in the hospital, had an accident, and then people started to talk and stuff. A lot of emotions in the locker room. And then the story came out, we found out what happened, and then the day before the game, we had to make a decision if we wanted to play or not. Like nobody was in...

in a hundred percent condition to play. Like even training was tough. Thinking about stuff all the time, we couldn't really focus. Just think about our teammate being like in the ICU pretty much. You know, and we decided, no, we were going to do this run for Mechack and we can't let him down. That's what he wanted us to do, to go and play hard. So we decided as a group to stick up and play. So we played the Richmond. It was the hardest game of the playoff.

I say because of all that happened, but also like they put a good performance against us. like, even though we prepared really well, there was a time in a corner where they hit the crossbar twice. And then we're like, wow, how did this ball didn't go in? And then right after we scored in the counter. that was like a big moment that we said, the reason why the ball didn't go in was because of our...

because of Mechack he saved us on the boat big time.

Jamil Roberts (26:03)
Yeah, for sure. was meant to be 100 % make 100 %

yeah, sorry continue

Pedro Dolabella (26:10)
So yeah, then, I mean, I don't know if you want to comment on that or whatever, but then the fans brought like a big post of his number, number two, Jerome and stuff like, and then we all took a picture in the end, like after the win over there. So that was, I think the hardest game of the playoff because of, I never played in a condition like that before, you know, mentally. So that took a lot of the guys and stuff, but.

After that game, think he started to get better. We had some positive news. And then we faced Greenville, which is a rivalry for the club, a big rivalry for the club that they have a belt. Whoever wins takes the belt. And then we go in a game more relaxed. I guess we were too relaxed on that game. And then they scored in the first five minutes, they scored one goal. And then we're like,

Shoot, have to step up right now. But after that, we dominated pretty much the whole game, like lot of shots. And then as soon as the first goal went in, we knew we were going to win the game. And then we scored in the 60 to get through. it was great, was unbelievable. then leading up to the final, I told the guys, I had the same, a similar feeling that when we were

back in Marshall, know, like the group was so united, like it was great vibes, like I was a bit hurt on both my groin, I had to do like recovery the whole week, didn't train a single day, just the day before the final. And then...

Jamil Roberts (27:43)
Mm-mm.

That's what big time players do, There we go.

Pedro Dolabella (27:54)
Not that I'm Ronaldo or anything, but I couldn't change. And then we went to the game very confident. We beat those guys a lot of times before. And we knew we had more news that Mishek was getting better. So then we became in flying. Max, our teammate, scored three minutes in. Boom, header.

Jamil Roberts (28:23)
water header as well, schnicks.

Pedro Dolabella (28:23)
and then like was fully packed the stadium. Crazy header and funny stories like during the week he was taking the corners actually. And I was like beside with Dos Santos, Dos Santos wasn't training either. And Max's corners were not hitting too well. was like from post he was dipping too much. And then we're like, you know, maybe if we put Gallardo there, we put Max in the front post.

We have an extra man like tall guy to score, you know? And then, okay, we changed it. So front post was a Gallardo, back post was a Max. So we already know, we didn't even have signals. We already know whoever took it was front post one, back post the other. And I see, you know, Max goes in the front post alone, completely free, boom, crazy cross, amazing header, boom. And then we exploded. It's great. And then after, nah, was a...

Jamil Roberts (29:02)
Mm-mm.

Tactico, tactical.

Pedro Dolabella (29:20)
Winning on set piece is unbelievable because the other team gets so pissed too. So it's great.

Jamil Roberts (29:25)
hahahaha

Pedro Dolabella (29:29)
And then right after that, I think on the 90th minute, the ball, another corner, then hit one other, hit the other guy, and then the ball landed in front of me. I'm like, there's no way this is happening right now. In front of me, boom. Like, what happened to you?

Jamil Roberts (29:47)
No, mine was world-class movement now

Dom Okus (29:48)
hahahaha

Pedro Dolabella (29:50)
you

No, to be fair, yes, you follow everything. Jimbo with the runs, amazing. then for me, just landed there, I'm like, boom, I'm just gonna lace it. Boom. Sorry, Brooks, friend. And then...

Jamil Roberts (30:08)
shout out Bruxy man, Bruxy. What a playoff run again. The penalty saves, but Pedro won this time.

Pedro Dolabella (30:17)
No, great guy, Bruce, great guy. And then obviously the big celebration that we went to the Jerome sign again. then the second, the game was pretty much done. I mean, they didn't, they had no shots on target and then we ended up three zero second half and then.

Jamil Roberts (30:36)
Is it Kunga got the last go? Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, he's fast.

Pedro Dolabella (30:38)
Yeah, Kluger. What a player. What a player. He's so madness.

Jamil Roberts (30:44)
He's one of the most difficult players I had to mark this season, absolutely. Just don't know which way he goes. He can go both ways and his first five yards are so quick.

Pedro Dolabella (30:50)
It's incredible.

Dom Okus (30:58)
You saying, John, did you get ripped?

Jamil Roberts (31:00)
I didn't get ripped up. I was injured when I traveled to them. I played the last five minutes. But we'll get onto that in a little bit. Nah, but Pedro, honestly, mate, it was... I watched all the games in the playoffs and I thought you boys... I know you sort of downplay, you always do, to try and stay humble, but I'll be the one to big you up. from playing against you guys throughout the year and watching the playoff run, it was clear.

to anyone with eyes that you guys were by far the best team in the league this year and you got what you deserved. And obviously everyone at the Back Stick podcast sends all the best wishes to Mechack and his family. We're all with you and we hope that you're just continuing to make a speedy recovery and get yourself right before we can get you back out on the pitch, mate. Now, back to the football.

Pedro Dolabella (31:58)
No, thank you. Thank you, Jamma Thank you.

Jamil Roberts (32:00)
No, no, no, of course me and I know Dom echoes that as well. So

Dom Okus (32:05)
100 % man.

Jamil Roberts (32:07)
But yeah, going back to the football and just talking about the season in general. And I guess it's probably a good opportunity, like you said there, to sort of touch on, it was the first time that me and Pedro had been on the field together, not in the same uniform. And I remember the first time was in Chattanooga. Was it a cup game or a league game? I think it was a cup game.

Pedro Dolabella (32:35)
I think was League and in the game we played with Purple against you guys it was like a cup.

Jamil Roberts (32:39)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, it was such a weird feeling. was the first, genuinely, was the first time where I played against someone where, like, I had to really try to not see him as, my boy anymore. Like, I had to take personal situation out of it and purely look at his business because, like,

Pedro Dolabella (32:56)
Mm-hmm.

Jamil Roberts (33:06)
I mean, how many times... We've played so many games together. We know each other as players inside out. As people inside out, we've shared so much together. So, it was... For me, at least, it was really weird. I don't know if you felt the same way on that first time we played against each other.

Pedro Dolabella (33:19)
Thank

No, that's actually the same, Jim. Obviously, I look at you, I already wanted to chat with you because first of all, I haven't seen you in years. And then I see you, I'm like, OK, we can chat a little bit now, but then it's time to, you're my enemy now. So like, I'm just like, OK, like, you know, like, and I remember on the second game, on the cup game when I was on the right side, like close to you one time, and I knew it. I know you, you, I know the player you are. You came to crush me big time.

Jamil Roberts (33:31)
Mmm.

Yeah, yeah.

you

Dom Okus (33:53)
hahahaha

Jamil Roberts (33:54)
Ha ha ha!

Pedro Dolabella (33:54)
I'm bowing here and he just like came full power I like jumped a little bit got out of the way and just started laughing because I knew he was gonna do it this clown no friendship there

Dom Okus (34:02)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha

Jamil Roberts (34:08)
Mate, I'm a defender now man. I'm hard hitting no nonsense left back.

Pedro Dolabella (34:15)
I love it.

Dom Okus (34:16)
Question I have is, when you lot are doing the scout, are you lot piping up a little bit more now that you know each other? So for example, if we know Jam's playing left back, yeah, get him on his right foot, or for you Pedro, Jam, you might be like, yeah, get stuck into him, he might not fancy it, or make sure to show him on his left foot, whatever it is. So are you guys doing that, or are you just kind of just acting as you would in any other game?

Pedro Dolabella (34:42)
I mean for me it's like they do all the scouting it's like this coming is a lot already you know the coaches like put so much stuff into the scouting and so much effort on you know so like for me I'll say one thing I said to to Cunga the right winger I told him like Lagos Jamil is a winger okay he's a winger I see him is all I'm playing as a winger yeah he's good defender but he's a winger you have to go

Dom Okus (35:11)
Mwahahahaha

Pedro Dolabella (35:11)
I think I tried to do more in

So like, but in the other side, obviously, like on the opposite side, it's like, you know, players qualities too. You know, like I know Jamal's qualities. I know like the balls he put in behind the defenders. I know like the power he has, like the speed he has and like how competitive he is. So like, I rather talk about like the things that he can hurt us, you Because I think that's what I know the most.

Dom Okus (35:26)
for sure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jamil Roberts (35:42)
Yeah, yeah, I very much I very much agree because We so it was funny the first game that we played This season the way that we sort of did our scout this year we had I guess like the first slideshow was always you know like the key players to look out for on the other team and Pedro wasn't one of them and I was looking at

Pedro Dolabella (35:46)
You know?

Jamil Roberts (36:10)
You know, I won't name names, but there was a couple of names that were on there that fought You know I'll be real they just weren't as much of a threat as Pedro was especially For the weaknesses that we had as a team as well So that was a situation where I went to the staff and said listen like I don't think like you'd be foolish to underestimate What what he's got and then funny enough to score 10 minutes in?

And like, you know, then from then on, other three games we played him in the year, he's the one player that we need to watch in the scout every single time. You know, so I think there's an element of, yes, you kind of talk about how, you know, the players qualities like Pedro said, but sometimes the qualities speak for themselves, you know, like Pedro did his thing when he played against us and that forces the hand. I don't have to go to the coaches anymore because, you know, he's doing his thing.

Dom Okus (36:57)
Hmm.

Jamil Roberts (37:06)
And now the coaches are aware and it's not like I don't have to do that extra job, I guess.

Dom Okus (37:13)
Fire, fire, okay. Yeah, because I remember like when I would play against my friends that I'd know at other schools, it's exactly what Pedro described earlier when he's saying, as soon as they take a touch, I'm lifting them. Like, that's my plan, I'm lifting them. I don't care if you're my boy, we can have a drink afterwards, but right now I'm lifting you.

Pedro Dolabella (37:25)
Hahaha

Jamil Roberts (37:26)
Ha

Pedro Dolabella (37:31)
You

Jamil Roberts (37:33)
Hey, hey Pedro's cheeky, you know because he's talking about me trying to smash him, but Pedro's got one in him as well So don't try don't sit there and be fooled to thinking that Pedro's do all this nice guy all this and that no Pedro is a is a Bastard when he wants to be on the pitch

Pedro Dolabella (37:35)
You

Dom Okus (37:48)
Ha

I can see that, I can see that, I can definitely see that.

Pedro Dolabella (37:59)
No, you gotta, you gotta, like Mauricio said, you know, Gio, man, you're the same, bro, you... Nice guys, Domingo, you gotta be a cunt, bro.

Dom Okus (38:08)
Ehh-hah!

Pedro Dolabella (38:13)
Why you think I got suspended like fucking three times this season, bro?

Dom Okus (38:13)
Ha ha ha ha ha!

Jamil Roberts (38:18)
God May spot on a de marino spot on man, and you know what's funny is I use that as a pregame speech once this season as well. God

Pedro Dolabella (38:22)
it was bad.

Yeah. No, you have to. He's the boss.

Dom Okus (38:37)
So I think this is actually a good opportunity for me to take us into the next section, because I think anyone who's been watching this podcast for the last 40 minutes can see the chemistry that you both have. Obviously, we mentioned at the beginning, you won a national title. And it takes like

Jamil Roberts (38:42)
Mm-hmm.

Dom Okus (38:57)
a lot of things coming together, a good team, a good locker room, a bit of luck for you to win a national championship. So I actually want to take it back to you all's time at Marshall. I remember seeing it all over Instagram, Jam coming in really clutch of all the goals. Obviously Pedro, you contributing, you had an amazing team, and Lau, who I know is also part of that team, Colin. I actually want to take it back to 2017 to talk about Marshall.

And obviously when you went there, they weren't even a school that people were talking about in D1 Token for being real. And to take it from there to winning the championship. So I just want to talk a little bit about you both being there and kind building that school up. And Pedro, I'll kind of start with you.