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  • USMNT's Gold Cup Grind 🇺🇸🏆

USMNT's Gold Cup Grind 🇺🇸🏆

Plus, next season's Premier League fixtures just dropped.

June 20, 2025

Hail GFOP! 

I type with fingers numbed and comatose after watching the United States scratch past CONCACAF’s Saudi Arabia last night in a snoozer of a 1-0 Gold Cup sleepwalk. The good news is, the U.S. are into the knockout rounds and did not Get Grouped. You and I know, we can never, ever take that for granted. The big picture challenge is, the football was at Spirit Airlines levels of performance. More on all of this below, as well as a number of thoughts about the Club World Cup, which is careening itself across the United States in its erratic, surreal, singular fashion.

ii. Clint Dempsey is the joy of my summer. To be in Austin, in his home state of Texas, with him and his family, and tape a live episode of The Deuce was to feel alive. Our live taping was a packed mob scene. The energy was joyful, optimistic, honest—yet big dreaming. It reminded me of the feeling around the team itself in its 2014 peak. To hear Clint talk through his 2010 World Cup goal against England on its 15th anniversary, and to learn that even a scuffed, lucky goal can carry a profound emotional power—in Clint’s case, as a cathartic celebration of the memory of his late sister—was to be ennobled.  

We go again tomorrow night, Saturday, in the great city of Dallas, Texas. I cannot wait to raise a glass with all of you. I am learning so much from working with Clint, not least when he drops one of his life truths in what he laughs at as “Socrates Dempsey” mode. Last night he talked about how players like Matt Turner and Brenden Aaronson, looking from the outside in, have to “stay the course, keep fighting, know that tough times don't last but tough people do.” When we finished the pod, he laughed that we had just “made chicken salad out of chicken shit.” It’s The Summer of The Deuce for us at MiB and we are not taking a second of it for granted. 🍻🦅 

Come and raise a glass with us SATURDAY night, and ask Clint any question you want about United States football, fishing or life. We want to see as many of you as possible, RSVP here:

🎟️ JOIN US IN DALLAS, TOMORROW, June 21 at The Londoner Addison. 🤠

iii. CALLING ALL DISCORD USERS: We are in the process of building out a Men in Blazers community on Discord that will allow you to interact with other football fans and lovers of life on a 24/7/365 basis. It is something we are proud of, and want to make sure is full of individuals who share our passion for football and beyond. If you are interested in being an early member of this free community, please fill this out to have us add you to the early membership queue. 🍻

iv. While the United States struggle to make national noise, Canada are soaring. @mitchelltierney tweeted this mind blowing fact which captured their progress: “Between the 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments, Canada scored six goals total. A decade later, they kick off the 2025 Gold Cup with a 6-0 win against Honduras. How times have changed.” 📈

Jesse Marsch has the culture, collective confidence, and vibes of that team at an 11. I loved spending time with him in person for this interview. His goal for the Gold Cup was to instill an aggressive mentality in his players AKA “No more Mr. Nice Guy Canada.” His success North of the Border is almost Shakespearean. 🇨🇦

v. Congratulations to my friend Herculez Gomez, who racked up his 100th episode of Vamos on our network with this magical interview of Mexico legend Memo Ochoa. Herc, we are so lucky to have you and your producer Juan in our lives. We have learned so much from working with both of you, and do not take a second for granted. 👑

vi. I enjoyed talking to English journalist Ian Herbert about the state of football in the United States a year out from the tournament. Ignore the headline and dig into the article, which is really well done. 🍻

vii. Washington, DC – We are headed to you for a live show. Join me and two USWNT legends-turned-leaders of The Women’s Game, Sam Mewis and Becky Sauerbrunn. We will celebrate one of soccer’s greatest rivalries, USA vs. Canada, ahead of the Allstate Continental Classico. It goes down Monday, June 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET at the stunning Howard Theatre. Guests include Canada manager Casey Stoney and Washington Mystic Georgia Amoore. Tickets are available here. Come and have a pint with us and revel in all that is good about life and football. 🇺🇸🏛️ 

And: I loved this remix of the Springsteen movie trailer. Better, much better than the original.

This Week in MiB World HQ 🕺

Incredible to spend last Saturday with FC Porto and their president/Renaissance man André Villas-Boas, whom many of you will remember from his managerial stints at Chelsea and Tottenham. Portugal is, pound for pound, the greatest developer of coaches and possesses a stunning youth development pipeline. To talk about what we in the United States can learn from Porto’s experience developing a black belt in technical development, was an honor. As an American, I hope we can learn a ton from what AVB had to say. 🇵🇹 🇺🇸

Thanks to our friends at New Balance for setting up this conversation in such a stunning fashion. Their Portuguese coffee shop/pop-up in downtown New York City made us feel like we had been transported to the banks of the River Douro.🍷 

ii. Over on The Women's Game this week, Sam Mewis and Lynn Biyendolo recapped Sam's time coaching Vermont Green Women, looked back at this past weekend's NWSL action, and previewed the upcoming USWNT window, all on Good Vibes FC. Then on Friendlies, Sam was joined by Washington Spirit forward Ashley Hatch to discuss her career in the NWSL and how she bounced back from the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup squad in the 2023. You can find both of those great conversations, and plenty more, on the TWG YouTube channel. ☀️

USMN-B-T 1-0 Saudi Arabia. Remember People! It’s a Results Bizness 🦅

Before an agonizingly empty stadium, our U.S. boys did just enough to overcome a weak Saudi Arabian squad who have been here for about five minutes but already seem to be the epitome of CONCACAF. The game itself felt like a chore to watch. The U.S. had 72% possession in the first half but conjured zero shots on goal against a physical opponent. The football was sparkless, tepid and lacking in ambition and ideas. To progress from the group will be a relief for Mauricio Pochettino but it is a bare minimum for a program who has won its first two games in this tournament 15 out of 18 times.

Chris Richards Is a Great American 🙌

The Crystal Palace giant out of Birmingham, Ala. was a man amongst boys in this game. That a pair of his blocks were two of the best three highlights on the night tells you all you need to know about the quality of the game. The other, of course, was his goal. A moment of stand alone quality, from the wicked Sebastian Berhalter set piece to the finish, first-time off a difficult bounce, which Clint called an elite striker’s technique. I am so happy for Chris. He is a lovely, thoughtful, sensitive human being who has had to grind his way out of Alabama, and summon a true tenacity to establish himself in the Premier League. He has a massive opportunity in this moment to become one of the true faces of the team. Watching him seize it is really edifying. Give that man all the commercial deals.

Who Will Step Up, Fight, and Seize Their Chance to Make Themselves Undeniable? 🥊

How was this performance so plodding? Pochettino has made it utterly explicit he wants players who will fight for him. So many of these boys have been gifted an unexpected opportunity they could never have dreamed of: To make themselves unignorable for that World Cup squad on home turf. Yet, the performance was flatter than the Texas Panhandle. The football was so deferential. No one seized their chance to grab a drowsy game by the throat and enforce their will upon it. Working out why that is will be the key for Pochettino. Malik Tillman has the skills and the club form to do that. Patrick Agyemang has the hype and the plaudits but was unable to summon the touch or the balance. All of these players have sacrificed so much to make it to this stage. One transcendent moment could change their lives. If only the football reflected that…

I Do Love Me Some Diego Luna 🌔👦

The one player who is running off the ball and trying to create a spark with his flicks and tricks. I ran into Diego in Austin and told him just how much we are hearing from so many of you about his fight, hustle, and mustache-tinged singular swagger. I asked him what goes through his mind when he gets on the ball, and he told me he tries to “be happy” and summon “the joy he felt playing as a kid.” I said that to Clint on last night’s show, and he said that when he was young his brother used to tell him, he “had to be serious about having fun.” A phrase I love and will think of whenever Diego is in possession.  

Even Spinal Tap Drummers Think Our No 9 Position Is Doomed 🫠

Haji Wright’s injury is a real concern for our boys. With Agyemang crying out for competition, Haji did not dress, left out of the squad with an Achilles issue. Kyle Bonn reported, “After a big sigh, Mauricio Pochettino on Haji Wright's injury: "We will communicate something on his injury in the next few days.”" It does not sound good. His absence will be painful. Twenty-year-old German-American Damion Downs, this could be your time…  

Matt Freese Has Two Clean Sheets By Making Just One More Save Than You 🧤

The goalkeeper battle between two Matts is psychologically intriguing. Matt Turner was the No 1 and has battled his way to a Premier League crevice, albeit with precious little playing time. For a player shorn of match practice, it must be an agony to have had a watching brief. NYCFC’s Harvard grad Matt Freese has been wicked smart in goal — two clean sheets off ONE SAVE TOTAL IN THOSE TWO GAMES. Guzan has to be watching and thinking that if he started smoking ciggies, he could maybe be the American version of Wojciech Szczęsny and make an unexpected return from exile. 

It Is Painful to See These Stadia so Empty for a United States Game On Home Turf a Year Out from the World Cup 😢

Watching the United States walk out to gapingly empty terraces is an agony for all those who love the game in this nation. You have all made it clear as to the reasons—the unfathomable cost of tickets, the political climate, the absence of the big-named players, and the mediocre run of form. Make no mistake, there is an inertia around this program and even its most diehard fans at the worst possible time. The comment which hurts the most to read is: “If the players don’t care, then why should we?”  

The media drumbeat going into this game was crickets. The only news stories gaining traction were those surrounding Tim Weah and Weston McKennie’s surreal White House visit. But the empty stadium spoke its own message so loudly and agonizingly. Something profound has broken between this team and its core fanbase and it cries out for a sincere and speedy effort to rebuild that trust and connection again. Anyone who followed them in the 2010 and 2014 cycles knows just how singular and beautiful that connection can be. We head to 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium on Sunday night to play Haiti. (Chuckles “I’m in danger.”)

🎟️ If you’re in the Dallas area and considering going to the game, use this link to get 10% off tickets to USA vs. Haiti. 🇺🇸 🇭🇹

The Knockout Rounds Will Be Moment Of Truth Time 📊

We may play Costa Rica or Mexico. To better days ahead for all of us. We need to make noise. We need to be able to dream. Our gents will next play against the NBA Finals Game 7. We cannot catch a break…

Excited for the 2026 World Cup? Our weekly USMNT Only newsletter is your go-to source for backstories, insights and narrative surrounding Poch’s squad in their run to (hopeful) glory. Subscribe now. 🇺🇸

The Club World Cup Is Going to Be Some Turbulent Journey 🏆

What a surreal sight this tournament has been. Hastily thrown together from an organization perspective and even more shoddily marketed. Having Gianni Infantino be the face of his own creation was an almost vanity marketing campaign, with iShowSpeed bolted on for clout. The oft-shockingly empty stadia have been a startling humiliation. The action has been a slow boil. With shattered players battling dry pitches and blazing conditions in unbearable heat, Barney Ronay called it, “almost-football.” Action has been a slow boil. The only heat has mostly been of the brain-twisting, weather-induced kind. 

I will talk more about this surreal reality with Rory Smith on Monday in a Do It Live! after Seattle Sounders play PSG (kick-off @ 3 p.m. ET), but for now, congratulations to Inter Miami. They should not be in this tournament, as they were only jammed in for Messi marketing purposes, but they seized their chance, clipping a physically shattered Porto off this sublime Messi free-kick to become the first MLS team to beat a European opponent in competitive play. No small achievement.

Calling All Football-Loving Pets 🐶🐱

We have partnered with the two-legged people at Purina to create Pet FC, a new initiative where we will be featuring YOUR four-legged friends that show a true love of football on par with their human counterparts. 

We want your dogs that are up at 6 a.m. with you watching Premier League fixtures. Cats named after USWNT stars of past and present. Pets with true football skill (videos very much appreciated) and pets that think they have football skill. All of that, and EVERYTHING in between.

Click the link below to submit your pets and pet stories and we will be regularly featuring the best of the best on our social channels. What's more, we have Purina prize packs for every pet featured. We can't wait to celebrate the two, objectively, best things in the world: pets and football.

The Premier League Fixtures Have Dropped! ⬇️

On the whole, all football is good football, and while we appreciate the Club World Cup and Gold Cup keeping our bellies full during the summer months, they don’t taste as good as the Premier League. Supporters can now start formulating early league tables and tangibly fantasize about their team’s new signings in fresh kits, as the old reliable drug called hope permeates through every fanbase following this week’s Premier League fixture drop.

Arne Slot’s glowed-up Liverpool kick us off at Anfield against Bournemouth on Friday, August 15, before we set early alarms for a mouth-watering clash between Aston Villa and Newcastle on Saturday morning. Everton will visit Leeds on Monday August 18, at what will be a raucous Elland Road on the awoken Yorkshire giants’ Premier League return, but the opening weekend’s true headline act is Manchester United vs. Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday, August 17 at 11:30 a.m. ET. It’s always compelling when these old foes do battle, but it’s a particularly pivotal season for the futures of both clubs and their managers, which is why Ruben Amorim and Mikel Arteta will be delighted to learn that they’re the two teams with statistically the most difficult starts to the season. Buena suerte, Mikel and boa sorte, Ruben. 

More Football Did Ya Say? 📰

  • Thomas Frank’s first promises as Tottenham manager. Going to be fascinating to watch this truly brilliant mind wrap itself around the unfathomable next season.

  • Expect Premier League teams to play longer ball and be more direct next season. Who doesn’t love the long bomb?

  • The annual Calcio Storico tournament kicked off in Florence last weekend. I cannot stop watching the brutality of this old tradition. It’s like watching Burnley at their best.

Incredible Games to Watch Around the World 🌎

Club World Cup 🏆

CR Flamengo vs. Chelsea (Today, 2 p.m. ET, DAZN/TNT) 🇧🇷🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Both of these teams started their campaigns with pretty comfortable 2-0 victories against opposition they'd have expected to beat, so this is the first true examination for each. The legacy of Chelsea’s game against LAFC will be that incredible ref cam footage and an alarming amount of empty seats in Atlanta, but Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto, and Enzo Fernandez all impressed and showed that Maresca’s men want glory in the USA. Flamengo’s Uruguayan attacking midfielder, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, scored against Espérance, which is no surprise to anyone who’s watched him of late; at 31 he’s already got nine goals this season, so in order to succeed today, Chelsea will have to nullify him. The London club can at least look forward to playing in a stadium that doesn’t hark back to pandemic football, with Flamengo just one of myriad South American fanbases painting this tournament with their own colors.  

Bayern Munich vs. Boca Juniors (Today, 9 p.m. ET, DAZN/TBS) 🇩🇪🇦🇷

These two behemoths of football have only faced each other once before, where Bayern won 1-0 in the Intercontinental Cup final in 2001, but based on their ruthless 10-0 destruction of New Zealand amateurs, Auckland City, on Sunday, we can expect more goals in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium tonight. Some of them might come from Harry Kane, who after firing blanks in that match, will be thirsty to right some wrongs, but Boca are a gritty outfit well-versed in the dark arts of football, and they’ll put up a hell of a fight against the German champions. On their books, they have a cast of ex-Manchester United players in Ander Herrera, Edinson Cavani and Marcos Rojo, and their 2-2 draw against Benfica was another case study of why South American teams shouldn’t be overlooked in this Club World Cup. It’s also arguably Europe’s strongest fanbase in this competition vs. one of the world’s most dedicated groups of supporters in Boca Juniors, who have brought their pageantry to shopping malls, beaches and Walmarts across America.

Real Madrid vs. CF Pachuca (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, DAZN/TNT) 🇪🇸🇲🇽

Xabi Alonso’s post-match rhetoric after Real Madrid were outplayed by Al Hilal in their 1-1 draw on Wednesday echoed the early days of Amorim at Manchester United, with repeated use of the words “process” and “time,” which has drawn scrutiny from certain quarters. It’s too soon to cast aspersions, but there’s no job in football with more forensic intensity and hyper analysis than sitting on the throne at Los Blancos, and he’ll be expected to quickly forge an identity and convincingly overcome last year’s Concacaf Champions Cup winners, Mexico’s CF Pachuca, on Sunday at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. They’re a club going through their own managerial transition, with the departure of Guillermo Almada leaving interim manager Jaime Lozano in charge, and his side were unlucky to lose 2-1 to RB Salzburg in their first Club World Cup match. Premier League fans will remember the man leading Pachuca’s frontline, a now 35-year-old Salomón Rondón, who had stints at West Brom, Everton and Newcastle, and although still potent in Mexico, exemplifies the wide divide between these two football clubs.

Manchester City vs. Al Ain FC (Sunday, 9 p.m. ET, DAZN/TNT) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇦🇪

With there being such a quality disparity between so many outfits in this tournament, it’s tough to truly assess where familiar European teams like Manchester City are at, but their third regeneration under Pep Guardiola in his nine-year reign already looks electrifying. While Tijani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki slotted seamlessly into City’s XI in their 2-0 win against Wydad AC, Pep will be equally buoyed by goals from Jérémy Doku and Phil Foden, who had both been traversing the netless desert for many months until then. Al-Ain qualified for the Club World Cup as winners of the 2023/24 AFC Champions League, and other than veteran goalkeeper Rui Patrício, there aren’t too many players European or U.S. fans would recognize. As a counter attacking team, they’ll likely spend much of this match deep in their own box, but City’s all-encompassing attacking play will leave gaps for them to pounce in Atlanta.

NWSL 🇺🇸

And… San Diego Wave vs. Washington Spirit (Sunday, 10 p.m. ET, CBS)

The Washington Spirit can leapfrog their hosts San Diego into third with a win in manager Jonatan Giráldez’s last game in charge. ICYMI: after just one year in DC, the former Barcelona coach is switching branches in the Michele Kang multiverse, heading to the French champions Ol Lyonnes in advance of their 25/26 season. Elsewhere in the league, ninth-placed Bay FC travel to eighth-place Gotham in a match to decide which of the two will enter the international break in playoff contention (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ion).

MiB Mad Libs 📝

This week’s phrase is:

“The one change I would like to make to our U.S. team is ________. It will change EVERYTHING.” 

Email us your submissions to be in contention to win a coveted MiB patch.

There were so many brilliant entries but last week’s winner was:

Ash Arppa: “The Club World Cup is to football what toffee is to dentistry.”

Double A! Send us your postal. Patch it up, Baby!

Not Football and All the Better for It 📖

Dear Rog…GFOPs Write ✍️

Jacob Geiger of Atlanta, Ga. writes: “I skived off work this afternoon to watch FC Porto face Inter Miami here in Atlanta. In person, not at the immaculate Brewhouse Pub, which is in walking distance of my house, and where I loved being with you all a few months ago.

I was ready to be cynical and downbeat; I had seen the photos of the sparse crowd on Monday. However, a genuinely interesting match broke out in front of me and 31,000 other fans. Miami were on the front foot throughout; Porto's first counter led to the penalty that they converted. Just before Messi's goal in the second half, Miami had another free kick on the same angle, but 10 yards further out. I thought it was ridiculous for Messi to try the shot on goal from that far, but his attempt barely missed wide and now appears to have been a statement of intent. 

Yep, I still think this tournament is a weird farce, fueled by Infantino's ego and a splodge of Saudi PIF cash. But after 20 years of fandom, I got to see Messi live for the first time and had my Messi moment. The players, the fans (I sat behind the Porto traveling support, who brought a wonderful atmosphere to the stadium), and the game are all wonderful, even if the folks running the game are not. 

The folks running soccer are ugly as heck. The game is as beautiful as ever.”

Rog writes: Jacob, I miss the Brewhouse and all of you incredible fans in Atlanta. I cannot wait to raise a glass with you again soon and love your last line of your letter. It is so true. No matter what they do to try and ruin it, the transcendent human beauty of football cannot be denied. That is what keeps drawing us back. Let us all tap into it and memory-make together. Hopefully, starting with USA-Haiti this weekend… 

I will see you all in Dallas!

Keep sending your stories and questions to [email protected].

To Better Days Ahead for All.

Let’s not take a moment watching football together for granted and make great memories,

Big Love,

Courage.
ROG