Hail GFOP!

Rog writes: What a day it is to be a Chelsea fan. The Club World Cup is over, and I was there in person at MetLife to witness one of the most remarkable tournament victories since Denmark won the Euros in 1992 or Greece in 2004. Going into this final, Chelsea appeared to be lambs to the slaughter against the quadruple-seeking PSG machine who had just eviscerated Real Madrid 4-0, and leaked just one goal all tournament. But the beauty of football is that, over the course of 90 minutes, anything can happen. And this team who were lambasted as “Blue Billion Pound Bottlejobs” last season are now Champions of the World.

How did they do it? Cole Palmer unfurled a transcendent performance, consisting of insouciance, potency and ethereality in equal parts. Chelsea’s game plan was stunning – their ability to break PSG’s press, and with it their will. Their defensive organization, admirable. Robert Sanchez had a blip of a stunning game. In the heat of the New Jersey swamplands, PSG’s vaunted dynastic aura simply melted away. 🏆🛴

ii. I was surreally given the honor of doing the coin toss for the game. It is a remarkable thing to do – to take the field amidst 82,000 bellowing fans, the pomp and glitz of the pre-game machinations, and stand beside Michael Buffer as he is about to do Buffer things. As I took the field, I was overwhelmed by a sense of wonder that in 370 days, the men’s World Cup final will be in that very place on American soil. I flipped the coin with Reece James and Marquinhos and felt the power of the moment, and the enormity of the footballing tidal wave about to sweep our nation. After a Gold Cup absent of American fans, it was immense to see and meet so many reveling in this moment. Soccer, America’s sport of the future no longer — that future is now, and we are all living it. 🪙

I want to thank my friends at Coca-Cola for giving us this opportunity. We have unleashed this beautiful series on the rollercoaster of World Cup emotions with them and this Keegan-Michael Key piece is one of my favorite things we have made this year.  

📝 How are you feeling, Chelsea fans? You can now sound off (and gloat) in our Men in Blazers Discord community. We want to create the single best place on the internet to connect around not just football, but life. Free to join, and you can sign up right here.

iii. We filmed with Thierry Henry on Friday and it was immense. Here is a taste. Thierry is such a reflective gent. He really thinks about what he says, and expounds upon it at length, so to listen to him talking about his experience of football’s growth here in the United States, whether this is Arsenal’s year, and his own legacy was a total blast. That conversation drops on our pod and YouTube this FRIDAY. Va Va Voom. 👑🇫🇷

iv. Everton are doing a LIVE SHOW with us in New York City and a batch of new tickets have just been made available. Grab them fast and watch me on stage with my heroes, David Moyes, and a gent I am in love with, I can’t deny, amongst others… Tickets available here. 💙

v. This letter moved me this week, from Rwandan GFOP Minega Isibo who wrote: “Dear Rog, I am a GFOP from Kigali, Rwanda. My brother introduced me to your podcast many years ago and we used to listen to it and call each other a day later to talk about our favorite moments. We also used to quote you guys all the time. I can tell you we got funny looks when one of us would yell 'WARPIG!' for example in public. 

My brother passed away two years ago and it still feels strange listening to your podcast without talking about it with him afterwards. It was one of many things we had in common although we supported different teams (he was a Spurs fan, I am a Liverpool fan). Your pod will remain one of many reminders of the bond we had. Regards, Minega.” 

Rog writes: Minega, your email moved me deeply. I am so grateful for you taking time to write. I am so sorry for your loss and know that feeling of living out something you once shared profoundly with someone, when they are gone. My dad loved Wimbledon and I found it both very beautiful and very sad watching this year without him. Let us know your postal in Rwanda and we will send you a proper note and a patch. Wishing you love and the hope that your brother’s memory is a pillar of strength for you.  

vi. Last night was the final one with Rory Smith on his New York tour. My friend flies back on that little-known JFK-Harrogate flight tonight, where he will revert to his Terry’s Chocolate Orange-only diet. I have loved having him here this week – it was such a blast to meet so many of you in person at the fantastic Michelob Ultra Pitchside Club where we were like footballing Celine Dions as artists in residence. Reuniting Clint Dempsey and Jurgen Klinsmann was a slice of magic. Ror is going to come back out soon and wants to travel somewhere beyond the obvious in the U.S. for a live show… [email protected] is our email for suggestions.

To more together. 

Big Love.

Courage,

ROG

Maresca’s Boyz II Men Dismantle PSG to Win the Club World Cup 🏆 

By Tommy Stewart

Chelsea 3-0 Paris Saint-Germain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇫🇷 

In his post-match interview, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, who’s often quick to criticize his own team, boldly said, “We won the game in the first 10 minutes” and although that’s easier to proclaim with a medal around your neck, during that opening period, his team’s maestro, Cole Palmer, came tantalizingly close with an effort that was a spoiler for how the rest of the match would play out. His two first half goals were like beautiful clones of each other, where he sauntered through the space Chelsea’s relentless off-the-ball movement and counter-pressing created between the defense and midfield, passing the ball with his left foot into the bottom corner against one of the greatest goalkeepers in the world, Gianluigi Donnarumma. He then coldly provided a neat pass at the dawn of the first half for João Pedro, who dinked the giant Italian to score his third goal in two games for his brand new club. It seemed that Robert Sánchez was at times possessed by the spirit of Gianluigi Buffon, who we must stress is still alive and well, but amid concerns and rumors about who should hold Chelsea’s No. 1 spot, something that’s been a long migraine for the club, Sánchez decided to pull together one of the great clutch goalkeeping performances. From sealing Champions League football on the last day of the season, to a somewhat reluctant, but ultimately meaningful Europa Conference League title, Chelsea have recovered from a rocky patch in their marriage with Maresca, culminating in dismissively defeating perhaps the best team on the globe to become world champions.  

Cole Palmer: King of the World 🛴

While Ousmane Dembélé is still the Ballon d’Or winner-elect, yesterday, Palmer casually said “Nah bro, hold my scooter” and completely owned the very big, sunny playground called the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Everything he touched, everything he did, and crucially, everything he didn’t do with the ball in the first half, was tantamount to perfection. “The gaffer put a great game plan out, he knew where the spaces were gonna be. People spoke a lot of shit about us all season,” said Palmer in the latest edition of one of his never boring and always blunt post-match interviews, showing the humble reluctance to accept too much praise for his footballing genius while deflecting the acclaim on to his manager. The Mancunian lad isn’t just adored for the artistic nature of his football. To paraphrase his City compatriots, Oasis, it’s the way he is himself, the way he can’t be anyone else that charms, and that was embodied by his complete and understandable confusion when the president anointed him with his deserved player of the tournament trophy. Dembélé will probably get his flowers when it’s time for individual award season, but don’t rule out Palmer one day shrugging and slaloming his way to the Ballon d’Or himself.  

PSG Are Human, After All 😅

The team who were supposed to win, didn’t. More than that, they didn’t even show up, and their post-match collective capitulation was probably the unleashing of that frustrating realization. Down by three, mental cracks began to form and quickly permeate throughout their whole squad when substitute, big Liam Delap, the footballing equivalent of Brock Lesnar coming in at 30 in the Royal Rumble, disrupted the peace in PSG’s box, mouthing off while visibly living rent-free in Donnarumma’s head. With the game almost out of sight at 3-0, VAR correctly deemed João Neves confusing Marc Cucurella’s hair for a wig as a red card, teeing up a full on meltdown that would bubble under the surface until the match was finally over. This was only Luis Enrique’s side’s third loss of the entire season, but the post-match scenes of petty violence are unrepresentative of how he and his team have gone about their business in their club’s greatest ever season. João Pedro was manhandled by PSG’s Italian ‘keeper as well as their manager in what seemed like an act of aggressive denial that they’d lost a game of football, and while this behavior and the loss itself doesn’t strip PSG of the acclaim they’ve received over the past few months, it’s a cruel kind of poetry that this is how their near-perfect season closes.

More: The one thing the U.S. needs to do to ensure next year’s World Cup goes off without a hitch, according to American legend Alan Rothenberg.

📬 Enjoying The Raven? Check out our other Men in Blazers newsletters here.

Liverpool's Emotional Friendly Victory ❤️

Preston North End 1-3 Liverpool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

The football was near irrelevant yesterday at one of the oldest grounds in the world, Preston’s Deepdale Park, which is just 37 miles above Liverpool in England’s North West. This was the Premier League Champions’ first pre-season fixture, and more pertinently, the first match they’ve played since the still surreal and heartbreaking death of their forward, Diogo Jota. Preston North End are a loyal fanbase of knowledgeable football supporters, and the way they honored Jota and his brother, André Silva, was beautifully respectful, as singer Claudia Maguire stepped on to the pitch for a poignant pre-match performance of Liverpool’s synonymous hymn, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” That coincided with Preston skipper, Ben Whiteman, approaching the away supporters to lay flowers in front of them, reminding us that the football family has huge outreaching arms, and that ultimately, humanity binds us more than tribalism divides.

There was another fitting and touching display of emotional candor in the 20th minute of the match, when a standing ovation for the former Portuguese forward was observed by everyone in the ground. On the pitch, both Darwin Núñez and Cody Gakpo dedicated their goals to their former teammate, but the resonant scenes came when the final whistle was blown, as Liverpool’s players, manager and traveling fans unified in a way that this club of such rich history and emotion does so well, applauding each other while Jota’s song was belted out from the terraces.

More Great Football from Around the World 🌍

Women’s Euros: England 6-1 Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

If England’s 4-0 decimation of the highly-ranked and rated Netherlands was the champions’ hard launch on to the 2025 Women’s Euros, this was unbridled confirmation of the excellence of Sarina Wiegman’s side. Wales are new to tournament football, and even though the Lionesses expected to win and qualify for the quarter-finals in a bid to defend their Euros title, the comprehensive nature of this performance builds a platform of momentum as they prepare to face Sweden on Thursday in Zurich’s Stadion Letzigrund. There were six different goal scorers for England yesterday, but it was Ella Toone who, as well as scoring the second, truly illuminated this match, regularly linking up with best friend, Alessia Russo, who also got on the scoresheet. Lauren James was magical again, further cementing herself as a world class player who can dictate games at will, earning the standing ovation she received from her audience in St. Gallan, allowing the James family to further revel in the footballing excellence of her and her brother, Chelsea captain, Reece. For more coverage of the women’s Euros, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter dedicated to The Women’s Game.

Some Absolute Weekend Worldies 🚀 🥅

There were a lot of great goals this weekend, but these three get top marks:

Mid-Week Matches Worth Faking a Meeting for 📺

Women’s Euros Quarter-Finals 🇪🇺

Sweden vs. England (Thursday, 3 p.m. ET, FOX Sports) 🇸🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

The Lionesses’ 2-1 loss to France in their opening match of the Women’s Euros appears to have been a red herring, or a cold splash of water in the face that woke them up to the fact they have a trophy to defend. Since then they’ve come alive, biting through the Netherlands and sending home neighbors Wales, scoring 10 goals in those two remaining group fixtures, as fans have marveled at the effortlessly elegant image of Chelsea’s Lauren James not only rising, but thriving as the eyes of the world watch on. Sweden will be buoyant off the back of a 4-1 win against eight-time champions Germany, where they truly announced themselves as title contenders, but a fragment of Sarina Wiegman might be secretly pleased that her team came second in their group, avoiding their old nemesis at this stage of the competition. 

Spain vs. Switzerland (Friday, 3 p.m. ET, FOX Sports) 🇪🇸🇨🇭

World Cup holders, Spain, are the clear favorites, not only in this match against hosts, Switzerland, but to wrestle the European Championship from England’s grasp and take the trophy home. So far, they’ve marched through the group stage of this tournament, netting 14 goals shared between their roster of genuine world class stars, with two of them, Esther González and Alexia Putellas, leading the goal-scoring charts. They’re ranked only behind Emma Hayes’ USWNT in FIFA’s power list, while Switzerland are 23rd, but their home fans in Bern’s Wankdorf Stadium will provide a glorious backdrop and give their team the best they could hope for. 

Some Non-Football to Start the Week Off 📖

• How can you tell if someone has 'fake abs'. If they're not Mo Salah, they're prob fake. 

• Here's why pistachios are everywhere this summer. Somebody needs to make a Labubu out of pistachios and leave the rest of us alone for a bit.

• ‘This was our Eras tour!’: The joy and camaraderie of the Oasis reunion gigs. “There were blokes crying everywhere,” most of whom wore bucket hats.

• Remembrance of Scents Past. Answers the big questions, like “What did the Renaissance smell like?”

• How a Show About Truly Terrible People Became the Defining American Sitcom. Yes, “Always Sunny” is, in fact, older than Lamine Yamal.

• ’I’m crying just remembering it!’: Readers on Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s goodbye gig. And he did it all in his team’s home stadium.

It’s MiB Trivia Time 🤔

This week’s question: On this day one year ago, England lost 2-1 to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, but who scored the Three Lions' only goal that day?

Email us with your answer for a chance to win a much-coveted MiB patch

Last week’s winner: Congratulations to last week’s winner, Matthew DeAngelis, who was the first to correctly identify that Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick when Real Madrid and PSG faced each other in the Champions League last 16 in 2022! The patch is in the post. 📦