Mbappe and France outlast Paraguay and Morocco ousts Canada: Night Cup 07/04/26

22:38Rog:Unbelievable to carry on in the way they did, even though the resistance was weakened. I mean, the heat, the tiredness, the brain chasing that ball. Often, you know, prime Barcelona opponents would talk about how it was the mental exhaustion that did you in as much as a physical just chasing the ball. And France did start to rumble up the flanks with Menace. I actually started to think about that old terrorist line in every bad movie where they kind of mutter things. They're threatening a politician and they say, you have to be lucky once. We have to be lucky once. You have to be lucky always.

23:13Rog:And then it happened. Desiree Dwey, 65th minute. He was like, F it. I got this. Watch me, boys. And he just single-handedly charged at the Paraguay on rear guard. It was beautiful. Taking on one, two, three, four defenders. Last one, I think it was Gomez, left the leg, which touched Dwey. He definitely made sure that we saw he definitely went over it, but VAR eventually saw it as a penalty. Ro, when referees announce a VAR decision, number one, why do they shout so loud? And number two, why do they do it in these eerie staccato rhythms? It's like the worst spoken word poetry of all time. Number 20!

23:55Rog:I think they're trying to... I think they're trying to get into... Well, Humphrey's shown us that techno remix, hasn't he, of the Almiron one. That's my favourite. It's the son of the summer. It's the hot new son of the summer. I think they're trying to get into that. I think they're all trying to break into the music industry. They all want to be sampled by the Chemical Brothers. Is that what you're saying? That is the dream of any referee. They shouldn't make them do it in English. It's really annoying me. Let them do it in their native tongues. Celebrate the world. That's such a good point.

24:28That is such a good point. I hadn't actually thought of that.

24:31Rog:We're not ignoring my FIFA. You see my French language usage in this show, just as proof that we can all speak, well, barely multiple languages. You know, no in French? Yeah. Non. Va. Pelle. Player number vingt. It will be. I can get with this crap. But it would test a team's knowledge of modern languages, which I feel should be the sort of thing that a World Cup is examining. So you'd have to be able to be like, all right, in Arabic, he said this, despite the fact that we're Paraguayan. That would be, that's appropriate. Oh, God. That would be amazing. Can you imagine? The carnage. I would be like, what?

25:12Rog:The decision is a penalty. It should be, according to Sean Peters 5099, launching a thousand techno bangers. I love your idea. Just Tower of Babel football is what you're saying. That's what you want. You want to recreate the Tower of Babel in this World Cup, and I'm all there for it. Also, if you want to then argue with the referee, you have to learn that language. You have to learn the language. Otherwise, you can't communicate. So it's going to stop all of that. Stop dissent. Exactly. Yes, just speak to the hand or speak to me in my language. I love how this is going. This is quite the future.

25:45Rog:Upstepped Mbappe, who has that singular face. You and I talked about he's fired now, but he was the Marseille president, a man who looked like both a baby and a very old man at the same time. I realise Mbappe's got that same look. I mean, he both looks like a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful baby, and he looks like a very old man. It's like that beautiful blend of youth and experience. And up he stepped. He caught a heel leaning, rolled home, pointed back with a little easack of a ceremony. One behind Messi in the all-time scoring record. This is amazing. 16 of Mbappe's 19 World Cup goals have come in the second half.

26:26Rog:I don't know if you've got a theory on this. But it is an unbelievable number. Probably not one that's that... Yeah, it's probably not an especially interesting one, Rog, to be honest. I would guess it's because he and the French generally wear their opponents down a little bit. So first half, he's less likely to score. Second half, when his pace can be made to pay against slightly more weary legs, he probably has a little bit more of an impact. You think Hanford says he's on the pingers at halftime? Halftime pingers! That's more entertaining. This is where we miss Humphrey. I do. He's coming back.

27:01Rog:He's coming back. And that was how the game ended in a literal rumble. Paraguay, farewell. I just say beating you by three goals. It's not for everyone. It isn't. It isn't. But I will say the odd thing, if I was a Paraguayan fan, and we have a couple of work at Men in Blazers, and I love them and their passion, their excitement for this, the fact that their team qualified was so moving emotionally, that traveling around with this team has been, I think, a deeply emotional odyssey for so many Paraguayan Americans, just something they will never forget. When they did need that goal, they had a late flurry.

27:40Rog:They did have a rumble. It did get nervy a little. They were never fully out of control. Let me exaggerate, Roar. Got a little nervy. Squeaky Derrier. they can if they could have done if they wanted and again you saw Kate Verde go toe to toe you see the dour nature of this football and you think what? You just think that's how you should do it that's ultimately you assess strengths and weaknesses this is your strength, go for it So my one quibble would be I think in that last 10 minutes plus 10 minutes of injury time I think they didn't hurl enough forward. There were points where you thought, hang on, why have you still got seven players back?

28:26If you concede a second, that doesn't matter. This is kind of do or die time. And I think that maybe did it spot the limit of their approach, that I don't have a problem with sitting back for 85 minutes. If the last 5-10, you're going to really just chuck everything at it. I thought they were a little bit kind of reticent there. But what I really liked about it, Rog, is I've never watched a game that was more certain would end in a full-time brawl. It was that vibe. Oh, yeah. Like, as soon as they cut to it, you were like, yeah, obviously they're having a fight. Clearly.

29:00Rog:There could be no other combination. It was perfect. At Mac2mon says Mbappe is both Benjamin buttoning and he got glitched. France, the multiple goal victory run is over. So is the dizzying champagne football. I mean, I'm quite fascinated. Part of me thinks they will be a harder, a more confident team after surviving this challenge, which is a very different adversity. I think so. I think they didn't put on like a spectacular, skillful performance where everyone's like, oh my God, look at them. They look amazing. But given how hot it is, and then given the fact they were playing against this Paraguay team that were just trying to, you know, push the needle as much as they possibly could, try and annoy France as much as they possibly could, frustrate them.

29:45Actually, France's mentality was spot on. They stayed composed for majority of that game. I know it looked like at the end there'd be a little bit of a brawl. But considering what was happening, Paraguay didn't get a single yellow card throughout that whole game, by the way, which is wild to me. But France just, they kept their heads and that is so important. And we were saying, weren't we, Rog, when we were watching it, we were like, I'm not sure England would respond like that if they were playing against Paraguay in that situation.

30:12Rog:Jude Belliam in that situation. rule. Yeah, I think he would, we saw that in his condo, he got frustrated and they'd only been kind of kept at bay for 20 minutes and was getting frustrated. I want to have a little shout out to my new hero, though, Matthias Galaza, the River Plate and Paraguay midfielder, who gave one of the finest displays of shithouting I've ever seen. Describe it. I'm not sure he did anything on the pitch. Literally every action he took was designed to irritate the French. My personal favourite was in, it must have been after about 70 minutes, where he absolutely clattered Michael Alise, just a really obvious foul.

30:52And he jumped up straight away and roared at Alise, what are you doing? Why are you rolling around on the ground? It's like you've been fouled. It was just a player who'd been given instruction to be as irritating as possible and really lived up to it. I mean, he was my Michelob Ultra Superior player of the match, I've got to admit.

31:09Rog:It was brilliant. It is amazing, South American football, the way they've elevated that kind of gamesmanship to a fine art. I remember when England finally did beat Argentina on penalties, when Michael Owen kind of dived in the penalty area. And if it was us, the 1-0 victory, if it was us, we would have howled about the injustice, the cheating, the disgust. And the headlines in the Argentinian papers the next day were just ones of admiration. One of the headlines, I've still got it in my office, they wrote, they've learned. Like, you know, well done, boys. Respect. Greatness is ex-greatness. I do love how it's just embodied in that game, both a love of the high art of football and also the low dark arts.

31:59Rog:It's what makes this World Cup so beautiful. One other point on France. They won the battle, but this is going to take something out of them. They play again in five days. I'll tell you against who as a cliffhanger in one moment, Morocco. But this was energy sapping. This was an endurance seeper. We talked to, was it Jurgen Klinsmann who talked about the journeys of these teams, the heat they have to endure, playing indoors as opposed to playing outdoors, the huge travel that many of them are having. Not the US, man. We're just like cozily going from inside of SoFi, indoors up to Seattle, which is really temperate, back to SoFi.

32:45Rog:But some of these teams, this will take a toll, Roar. Some of these big teams are going to run out of gas. I don't know if it was Jürgen, but it was someone who made the point that the US in particular seem to have it climatically, have it climate-wise, whatever the word is. They seem to have quite a nice run of it. I think that's absolutely right, that the heat that France had to play in, I suspect it'll be similar in Boston when they play in the quarterfinal. We're there, we're in Boston, people should come to the show. That won't be particularly helpful for the French. I guess the other thing is, I don't know, that I guess is irrelevant.

33:20But the other thing that struck me about this tournament, the first three weeks were really slow and everyone had massive gaps between games. And now it feels like everyone's playing every two days. Like it's a bit, it reminds me of like a 5 ,000 metre race at the Olympics where they're all kind of taking it easy early doors, and then suddenly the last two laps, it was like, right, bang, off they go. That's going to be a real, there's a real kind of energy test now to this World Cup, that building up from, given the amount of football they've all played, given the season they're all coming off, they now have to play four really intense games in about 10 days.

33:53I also think maybe, this is good that France have got a game like that that's really hot, they've got it under their belt now, you know they can move forward when they get through because i'm you know imagining they'll be going through to the final they've had that experience i don't know from show they're very

34:10Rog:that's for my french viewers tree show um you know what isn't that hot you're dressed you're wearing your french jumper roger i am i'm all i'm you know i want to thank the french for helping us be you english brought in the um in the revolutionary war which we're celebrating today. God bless in this wonderful day for America. By the way, after the game, Ryan Cherky, God bless, cannot help himself. I adore this man. Do him even more after this. Donned an American, this is not AI, donned a revolutionary hat or a Napoleonic hat, depending on your perspective. Two slightly different eras, but who's counting?

34:50Rog:He's doing now, Ryan Cherky is doing historic revolutionary war bands. That is a 4D chess thinker. But you know that the French call the American Revolutionary War one of their great victories. They take credit for it. America knows that, don't they? They regard it as their own win. You know what? They're welcome. They got an assist. I think we call it a hockey assist is what they got in reality. I find it very funny that Rory was talking about the fact that he thought there'd be a bit of a brawl at the end and then you've just got Shirky there with the hat on, with Didier Deschamps looking like they're having a great time.

35:25Rog:I know, but that was probably, I mean, his brain, his brain is just wired so differently. Like he is, he is, I can't do a finger in the air, but he does think if you speak to him, he thinks so psychologically about how to piss the opponent off more than any other footballer I've ever spoken to. There was a moment I spoke to him. He talked about humiliating a player on the field. I can't, I can't remember which one, but I asked him why he did it. And he said, because he looked at me in the eye. Isn't that amazing? He looked at me in the eye and he decided, I'm going to humiliate that player in every regard.

36:04Rog:That is that man's mindset. And I've got to be honest, I'm kind of here for it. You're on board with it. Apparently, J-Dub says France officially get a gold contribution for the Revolution rule. Are you okay with that? I'm fine. Yeah, I mean, the war of French interference is how I think of it as well. Mate, you're not going to get us off. We won. I'm like, you can call it whatever you want, baby. It's a great day to drink some Roger Loves. At Meribu, Paraguay graduates, graduates to CONCACAF after that display. You're welcome. At Joseph Duda, the Ken Burns PBS documentary on this World Cup is already in the works.

36:40Rog:I will close on this game by just saying what you said is very poignant, how the games are now like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I don't mean to be a downer, but this World Cup feels like it's been going on forever. But it's also now within touching distance of the end. We are, you know, the games that overflow us, that felt like an abundance of them, you know, felt like games just pinging off all the time. We're now down to, you know, scarcity and you can taste the end. This pivot into the round of 16, I always find quite emotional because you can hear for the first time the end of the thing and the lack of it in your life for another four years.

37:15Rog:I don't mean to be a downer, but it is incredible. We are really we're now speeding towards boom the final performance Rog we're in the last 16 don't wish it away enjoy it as it is says Elton John don't wish it away and as the world arrives in the United States for the biggest spectacle in sports we're going coast to coast host city to host city to meet the world with the Men in Blazers Match Day Live Tour these are free college game day style live events taking place just before kick off at some of the biggest games of the summer where we'll be taking the stage with celebrity guests in front of thousands of fans.

37:57Rog:It's going to be amazing. Come and be with us in person or from afar on YouTube and let's celebrate this summer the way it's meant to be celebrated. Just head to the events tab on meninblazers.com for all the details. To the football, to more together courage. Talking about wishing it away, Canada nil. Oh, sorry, our friends. up north, our co-hosts. Morocco, three. In Texas, Jesse Marsh's Canadian heroes, our co-hosts, descended upon the Canadian city of Chex Notes, Houston, Texas, to face a team who'd been a dark horse of football four years ago. Better now very much in my mind, Morocco, a bona fide heavyweight of football.

38:44Rog:Like your Brazils, your Spains, your Frances, they should be taking that seriously. This is a team that Canada had never beaten in four tries. And the dark news is Canada's captain, the star gen, Alphonso Davies, battling back from long-term injury, started on the bench again. It had such a delicious impact against South Africa in the last round. Everything felt possible. This was one of the saddest stories, just of a muted end to a home World Cup. But we'll get to that. This was by far the most important game in Canadian men's football history. I'd say open with ambition and attempted swag. Canada ground down the wings from the off force, corner after corner, energised press, tried to get in to the space behind Hakimi that he was leaving, almost using Morocco's greatest strength as a weakness.

39:33Rog:It was like Aikido as football planning by Jesse Marsh. You were there, Roar. What was it like? Well, it sounds, to be honest, Rog, like you got a pretty good impression of it from Cosum, because that is exactly how I read it as well. I thought in that first half, Canada were maybe not quite outstanding, but whatever the thing below outstanding is. They were really, really good. They threw Morocco off their rhythm. They showed them both respect but not fear. They created chances. They were a little bit rushed in the box, I think would be the one criticism. They looked, to be honest, kind of like the more likely team at that point.

40:09I thought that it was, I went into that game at the, what's not called the NRG Stadium anymore, because it's called something else, the Houston Stadium. I went into it kind of expecting a bit of a steamroller, because I think Morocco, like you, are really, really good. And Canada in that first half, they were excellent. They did exactly what they needed to do. And by half time, you thought, OK, this one is in the balance. Like, Canada can hurt Morocco if they can find a cutting edge.

40:35Rog:Yeah, I mean, I've got a soft spot for Morocco. for reasons that you guys probably both know that on December the 20th, 1777, the Kingdom of Morocco became the very first nation in the world to recognize United States independence, which is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Gives me a very much a soft spot for the Moroccan football team. But even then, I didn't understand what was going on with them in that first half, whether it was the intensity of Canada's press or had they been reading a little bit their own media and look through the Canadian challenge a little bit. You know, there was a sloppy pass out the back.

41:11Rog:Ahmed was the interceptor. Fed Oluwasei, sudden drop of the shoulder, spin, lash, Bono. A goalkeeper who is one of those weird footballers who kind of lives to wear his international jersey. He dropped. It was almost butterfly style to save. It was like watching some kind of Moroccan Patrick Waugh. He's incredible when it comes to a World Cup. He comes to life in a World Cup. Remember Qatar 2022? Morocco went on that unbelievable run, didn't they? They got to the semifinals and Bono was just brilliant, wasn't he? He's a beautiful human being. Brilliant in penalties. Brilliant in penalties against the Netherlands.

41:49Was great in penalties in 2022 against Spain as well. I think I remember rightly he saved two penalties against Spain. So he is really good. I can't believe that he never got snapped up by a top European club.

42:00Rog:He talked very openly about how that impacted him. like the surprise bet yeah i found it really interesting reading about sort of how he found qatar 2022 because he said that he just didn't sort of mentally prepare himself for that tournament enough he was sort of taken aback by how intense it would be how you know you're sort of stuck in your training facility every day is training go back to the hotel go to a game training hotel and then you just can't get out of that rhythm and he really suffered with anxiety and really struggled during 2022, which is interesting because we all sort of, when we think about him, we think about those amazing performances that he put out in 2022.

42:39Rog:And he just remembers it as if he was stuck on a large orange bus for 39 straight days in unfathomably hot times and forced a podcast. That is going down a cold one, Bruno. Further blue for Morocco, cusp of the water break. They're quite defiant talent. Ismael Saibari lipped off, holding his hamstring. He's been a Bayern player for all of three days right now. Non-contact, exited early, three goals on the tournament. Godspeed to him. But all four of the matches, shots in that first half were Canadian. Morocco had zero touches in the Canadian box. And at Cosm Raw, it's very weird. They've got this massive screen.

43:20Rog:It's kind of fisheye at the bottom. And you see like the same hundred fans. I don't know if they know that they're on camera for audiences across. You can watch the same fans over and over. It's weird. You can see them picking their nose. You see them like you're watching their mood. You watch one guy stick his hand down his pants, trying to pick something out. I'm like, sir, this is a Wendy's. But you get familiar with them. They're like your mates. You're sitting there with them. But I kept getting distracted, Rog. So I'd be trying to watch the football, and then I'd be like, oh, what's he doing down there?

43:51Oh, he's gone to go and get some nachos.

43:53Rog:Yeah, it's very, I love one of those. There's one guy, God bless him, for about the first seven minutes, tried really hard to whip everyone around him into a Viking clap. He did this on his own for like seven minutes. And I started doing it in Cosm. I was just so sad for him. I wanted to get some feedback. It was like genuinely heartbreaking. But my point in bringing this up is, so you do start to read the game through these guys' faces. And I will say, it was amazing to see how frustrated they came. They came for a party. They came to see a coronation. they came to see some sparkle razzle-dazzle.

44:28Rog:Their energy totally burned off. There was a lot of very fractious conversations. And you could almost see that nervous energy transferred through to the play of the Moroccan team themselves. Yeah, I think Morocco have an interesting challenge in the next couple of weeks. Because I agree with you, Roger. I think they should be counted as a superpower now. They are an excellent team, and they showed that in the second half. But they've got to deal with the fact that expectations for them are much, much higher. that is now quite a demanding crowd. They are not the feel-good story of the summer. They are not an underdog who are coming good.

45:01They're not the team who are capturing everybody's hearts. There was a lot of Morocco fans in Houston today and most of them, I think, think that Morocco could win the World Cup. That is what they're here to do. I don't think that's ridiculous. I think they are good enough to win the World Cup. There's no... Look through the squad, they have the players. They've got the players, but... Yeah. Oh, I do absolutely completely. By the way, go on, Ro. I was going to say, Saibari's a loss. If you take Messi and Mbappe out of that, I think Saibari's probably been the best player here. That picture of him signing for Bayern looked like it was AI.

45:34But apart from that... Balogun. He has been superb. Balogun. So it depends how long he's out for. But I think if you look through the squad, they've got so much kind of creativity. They've got so much kind of ingenuity in the team. Technically, they're brilliant. Defensive, they look sound. Ashraf Hakimi today, after that frustrating first half, Hakimi very clearly decided he was not going to let that happen again. There would be no more wasted opportunities. Brahim Diaz was excellent. Azadean Unai, who is very much a World Cup player, he does nothing in the four years in between World Cups. Then he gets to a major tournament, he lights up.

46:13They are to be taken seriously. But that comes at a price, it means you have to perform. And at half-time, the fans, I think, were frustrated.

46:20Rog:Yeah, I mean, at Sean Peters 5099. Amazing. Email us, menandblazer at gmail.com. I'm going to send you a patch, Sean Peters, because this is funny. He says, European clubs were interested in Bono, but he lives where the streets have no name. It's funnier when I read it. It's very funny. You know, I was impressed with Canada. I do want to say not just the press, the organization, the trigger collective focus, the mentality more than anything. like we're going to get to Jesse after the game, what he said, but there was a fearlessness to their play. And I've got to give huge respect that this is the mentality of Canadian heroes that Jesse's really inculcated.

46:59Rog:We'll talk more about him at the end of the game. But halftime, we'd seen grind and fight, but this was remarkably first World Cup game on record to see more booking six than shots five. It was, you know, it was, it was a lot of fight, a lot of rumble, very little end product. And it felt to me, for all of their audacity, for all of their tenacity, Canada didn't have a single shot in that first half. And it felt like this game is only going to be won by then if it's still nil-nil by the time Fonzie comes on. That's what I wrote in my halftime notes. They clearly couldn't get him on. We didn't know in that moment.

47:36Rog:I thought when to pull the trigger on Fonzie for Jesse Marsh would be one of the hardest decisions he'd probably make in his managerial career. Little did we know that waiting for Fonzie ultimately was like waiting for Guffman. But I digress. Morocco came out of that locker room at halftime as if they'd had the fireworks that were traditionally reserved for the throne day in Marrakesh, stuck up there you-know-where. Came out more intensity, more application. That's called Google AI. And it showed inside 52 minutes, just stunning set piece. It's raw. Hakimi on the left, rolled it deep to the edge of the box.

48:15Rog:Unai was waiting. The way he struck the ball through the seal legs was amazing. But my God, the way number nine, Sofian Rami, jumped over the ball, because he's got to repress his natural urge as a striker to get something on it. But it was a brutal reminder of the old adage that you switch off for a second, a microsecond against a team as good as Morocco, and you will pay. Those are the margins at this level of the tournament. Yeah, I think you could see that Morocco had had various types of rocket in the halftime break. Within about 10 seconds, Hakimi did a full length of the pitch sprint down the right-hand side.

48:56It was genuinely like, OK, this is a level of intensity that is different to what we've just seen. And I thought the finish from Unai, the routine was clever, but the finish was perfect. And that's the quality that Morocco have. Do we think, Rog, did that ball stay low enough to be a...

49:11Rog:I was going to ask, can I get a ruling on this, J-Dubs? I don't know if we've got it. I didn't want to just... This was one I didn't know myself. I was going to ask you, does it qualify as a certain something? Is that what you're saying? I thought it got a little bit of air, didn't it? I think it's maybe a little bit of air. I mean, it was in the stadium. I did stand up and shout the word. No, you didn't. Producer J-Dubs, are we able to do this? No, we're not. Producer Jason said not a that word. Okay. It was officially not a worm burner. And what we're going to do, we're going to desecrate the huge investment that we've put into graphics.

49:51Rog:If we, you know, you can't ruin the integrity of the worm burner. We can't start to dilute the meaning, Rog. Yeah, I mean, without it, it's... Worm burner.

50:09That's the best one by a long shot. That's your best graphic.

50:12Rog:You think that's better than Soccer Deuce? Yeah, way better. I love that one. Betty, our graphic. Not your. Our, come on. We've all paid. We've all paid with sweat for these graphics. I will tell you, I love the worm burner because it's very funny, but Soccer Deuce moves me unbelievably. It's like hearing Whitney Houston sing the national anthem. It's beautiful. It's just the still on the last frame, isn't it, that really makes, that elevates that one. I think so. I mean, it is. It's an incredible, I think you may have to be American like me to really find the true emotional power of this. At Nash Wave 2, Canada just ran out of Syria.

50:54Rog:Look, there's no doubt that they're tired. And the goal really did bleed the game. Canada now had to assert themselves. They're not really made to assert themselves. Seconds ticked on. And it started to become clear that Fonzie again was just a decoy as he had been in the opening group stage. Marsh said later Fonzie had felt a twinge. It was not worth risking him. I think it was probably the legacy of the fact that one of his biggest injuries in recent years was actually on Canadian national team duty. And they just did not want to risk him. And without him, Canada really couldn't lay a fist on Morocco.

51:32Rog:There was an incredibly intelligent Buchanan sting up, which was early and forced Bono to scurry across his line. Series of corners not truly utilized. And then, God, there was an attempted thread at the Moroccan back line with an ambitious pass that was so easy to pick off. And suddenly there was danger all over the field. Talby sped forward four on two. Fed Diaz slapped to Unai, conjured another sizzle of a finish. This was a stunning finish. And that was it. I wrote in my notes, it was a nickelback breaker. Sorry, Canada.

52:10Stop bringing up nickelback. It's not fair. We established the other day they've got decent bands as well. Yeah, they got picked off. That was the reality of it. The first goal changed the balance of the game. And then Morocco were pretty happy, I think, to let Canada sit in front of them with the ball, draw them forward. And yeah, for the last half hour, Morocco, every time they went forward, Every time they sort of pounced, it looked like they might get through. And as I say, Unai, who is not a player who does anything for four years in between World Cups, has now scored two goals in a last 16 game.

52:40Both of them absolutely beautiful. He can, you know, look forward to going, whatever happens to Morocco in this tournament, he will go back to bed and we'll see him in 2030. God bless. He'll go back to bed. It will be all the better for you.

52:53Rog:He is that kind of guy. He'll then defrost for the next World Cup. He's like a week. Put him in the permafrost. Yeah, it's like, no, he's like, wake and bake guy and everyone's like, you could be so good. You could make something of your life. He's like, no, man, I'm all right. Just wake me up for the World Cup. Morocco almost got a third off a counter header from Rahimi that crashed off the bar, but he got his practically last kick, which was so bloody cruel on Canada. Morocco didn't. I don't know how it felt in that second half in the stadium, Raw play especially well, but World Cup football, we often say, is a game of moments, and they had three staggering ones, those first two in particular, and that was just enough for them to become, and this is amazing, the first African team ever to reach the quarterfinals in back-to-back World Cups, which is an incredible achievement that makes the whole tournament better.

53:45It does. Their rise over the last, I guess, six years has been one of the most important stories in world football. They are a genuine bona fide superpower in Morocco. They've got depth, they've got talent, they've got quality, they've got everything you need. I saw one of the comments, I can't remember who it was from, that described them as being ass, which I fundamentally disagree with. I think Morocco were poor in the first half because Canada pushed them back. There's two teams on the pitch. And then in the second half, I think Morocco decided, do you know what? The best way to win this game is for us to let Canada have the ball in front of us.

54:16They will lose it. They don't quite have the quality to get through. And as soon as they lose it, we will just spring forward and rip them apart. And that's exactly what they did. Canada can take pride from that game, But what happened was they ran into basically a much smarter team than them. That was the way that I read that. I think also, though, Canada were controlling the game, particularly in that first half, how Jesse Marsh set them up. He wanted them to have control of that game, and they did. They did so well. Let's not forget, Canada have done so well to get to the last 16. They're really, like, honestly, brilliant World Cup.

54:49Canadian fans can walk away from this and be so proud of their team. They can. But they just lack that sort of what they need in that final third, don't they? And that's the issue. They were in the right areas for a lot of that, particularly first half. There's huge amounts of it. They just can't do anything. It's like their final touch isn't quite there.

55:09Rog:You know, it is as if they'd watched footage of Congo's approach to England. Like they too were meant to just be fearful and meant to sit deep. And no, Congo brought it. Canada brought in this one. I'll talk about them in a moment. I do think there's a fascinating note that Bono, the Moroccan goalkeeper, first player ever to face his country of birth in two separate World Cups. Bono, born in Montreal to Moroccan parents. They returned to Morocco, I think, to Casablanca when he was three years old. He's now played Canada back-to-back World Cups and is yet to concede to a Canadian player. I think there was an own goal in the last tournament.

55:53Rog:He had a shutout today. I just say the man is not sentimental. A lot of very angry Canadians in the chat. I want to love you all. Have a belated happy Canada Day, July 1st. It's a very meaningful day for me too. MLK314 says, Rush still crushes. Steve Moore at 2259 is going off on me about the tragically hit. I will say huge, huge love to any tragically hip lover. They are, I would say, one of my top 10 favorite bands all time. They truly, truly move me. As your team have done in this World Cup, let's button Canada, our co-host together. We've got to talk about Jesse Marsh. I'm going to be honest and say I love the man.

56:38Rog:I'm quite close with him. He's such a proud man. He's an emotional man. He's not a man with much filter. He's always trying to big up his own boys. We know this. Sometimes to his own detriment. And he said this post-game, what a privilege our fans have had to root on a team like this that goes after the game, that aren't defensive. It shows they can be better, right? Of course, we have to find ways to succeed. But what a great team. I'd rather be us than them. As good as Morocco is, I'd rather be us. I think, Ro, we kind of know what he meant. But, dot, dot, dot, he's getting pelters. Yeah, I kind of agree with his sentiment.

57:21I think that he wanted to give his players praise for the way they performed, for everything Bessie said about that first half. The fact that they did kind of go toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the world for quite a long time. They didn't let the kind of even conceding the goal. They kind of bounced back. They went forward. They tried to get back into it. And it definitely wasn't a 3-0 game, is what I'd say. It didn't feel like 3-0 in the stadium. that storyline felt harsh on Canada. But what I would also say is I'd rather be Morocco because they won 3-0 and are still in the World Cup.

57:52And that, I wonder if he got, it's different, I mean, Betty knows this better than I do because she does those interviews much more than I do. But in fact, I never do them, and she does them a lot. Did you ever do, Jessie? I wonder whether one of the skills that... Don't think I did when he was at Leeds, no. Sorry, Rook. But I didn't say, I think what happens is that managers, sometimes they're going into those interviews really hot. And I wonder if he's just got a little bit carried away in what he's saying. I think his sentiment isn't wrong. His players should be proud. Canada should be proud.

58:27They have added a lot to this World Cup, both as hosts and as a team. But then maybe sometimes, Rog, you say one extra sentence, for example, about the mannequin piss and you regret it later. And I wonder if Jesse was in that sort of, that's what's happened to Jesse. Oh, yeah. They're so emotional at that point, aren't they? They haven't had any time to sort of think about what they want to say or bring themselves back down to sort of a more like level playing field, if you know what I mean. Get their brain sort of more neutral. And you stick a microphone in their face. And you're just getting all this emotion.

58:59And he's a very emotional guy, like you said. I don't know if you saw that one shot during the game towards the end when he was just sat on the cool box, head in his hands. It was like proper Bielsa-type vibes, wasn't it? And he just had his head in his hands. He was devastated. You could tell he was just so gutted. But what I think is quite interesting is Teddy, who is a producer that works on the morning cut date with me.

59:24Rog:Vancouver, Winnipeg, won't it? Yeah, yeah. And he, yes, he supports Canada. Canada. Canada. He supports Canada. And he said that he really liked that quote from Jesse Marsh. He did. He did. So maybe we're not the audience, man. I will say, Dr. Facken 2025 says, Jesse Marsh is a WWE man. I kind of like it. I do love that approach. If you are of that mentality, like a Ric Flairian kind of philosopher, then yeah, God bless. Royal Rumble it up, Jesse Marsh. I love you of all my heart. The truth is, number one, what Jesse's done is remarkable. Canada had a World Cup of so many firsts. First win, first time to emerge from the group, first knockout round win.

1:00:07Rog:incredible hosts, one incredible, unforgettable post-game speech. This is a team that's forged on tenacity. A lot of it comes naturally in the Canadian spirit. A lot of it comes from Jesse. There is so much to be proud of. And there's also a lot of agonies for Canada, the what-ifs of a healthy Fonzie, the tragic loss of Kone mid-tournament, and the shocking, cruel ACL tear for Marcelo Flores on the eve of the tournament. Flores could have made an enormous difference in this pathway. In the MIB Discord at Ballon d 'Or, Balogun said, this team are still Canadian heroes. And that's true. But Jesse, I know him.

1:00:54Rog:He's going to be furious that this game was played on the playing field that Canada wanted it to be. They had it. They had it. The game plan was working. to their strengths and they just couldn't take advantage of it. That's going to take some time for Jesse to process emotionally. Yeah, I think when he does, and you know Jesse better than I do, he is obviously a very emotional man and everyone in football kind of regards themselves that in the nicest possible way, everyone's kind of got main character energy that I think they think they are the person around which the universe kind of resolves and manages especially.

1:01:28And I think they kind of have to think like that. But there were two teams on the pitch today. And what happened was that Canada set the terms of the game in the first half. And that's to their immense credit because they're playing a high-quality team. And in the second half, Morocco found a response. And they found a way to take Canada's strength. This is what wrestling is all about, Rog. You take your opponent's strength and make it their weakness. And that's what Morocco did. And that's why Morocco went through. So I think when Jesse comes to kind of look at it a little bit more coolly, what he'll recognize is that they're not out because of their failings.

1:02:02their output of Morocco's strength, and that's a different thing.

1:02:05Rog:New poll in the chat. Who's winning the France versus Morocco matchup in the next round? We'll be there at Boston. July 9th, we're going to be at the Marriott Wharf with a pregame show for the ages, including a couple of Bostonians. All I'll say is that I've wanted to meet for a very, very, very, very, very long time. But it's not about us. Who's winning? Is it the guy from The Departed? The one that gets shot at the end. No spoilers. France, 84%. Morocco, 16%. You know what? 16 %? Underestimate. Morocco at your peril. No, no chance. No chance. This is called a pivot. America, on this day of days.

1:02:48Rog:I don't know if you know, it's 4th of July. Rory's favourite holiday. I've got three important words for you. Why not us, sucker dudes? That's five words. And two more. Free ballo. Yeah. This could very much be the summer we've been dreaming out since Paul Revere did that ride. And Paul Revere shouted, I'm only doing this ride from Lexington so that the boys can make noise at the World Cup. Giddy up, says to his horse. Belgium are next. The ultimate 2014 grudge match. We've got everything you need to prepare for the occasion with the GoGo USA collection at the Men in Blazers shop. and it's 20 % off right now because Rory said, let them have 20 % off because it's July 4th and it's such a meaningful holiday to me.

1:03:31Rog:I said, all right, Rory. So it's live for a few more hours. Get in there. Get your stuff. I love seeing the Why Not Us scarves. I've got to say, they're always on TV and it moves me. To the previews tomorrow. Oh my God. Is it the epic England-Mexico clash? I could not be more excited. Thomas Tuchel thinks England, this is crazy to me, are owed karma against Mexico at the Azteca because of Diego Maradona's hand of God. The goal was scored there in 1986. It's how it works, Rourke, that the moment in which Argentina shocked England was so deeply profound for those who lived it. Like Declan Rice, who's 27 and was not born until 1999, is just going to be foaming at the mouth like, let's get them back, them being another team at the same stadium.

1:04:23but that's the thing like it's got nothing to do with mexico you can't you can't hold it against the nation of mexico it's what it's fine for it's a little bit pathetic but it's fine for for england to have a rivalry with argentina about the hand of god and and also falklands the falklands have been really chippy on social media this last week and it's a really odd development i feel yeah i feel like we should encourage it yeah they need to stop being active um get back to just not being active anyway um it's fine to have a rival with argentina about it but it's not mexico's fault that it happened there it's like if you it's like to catch your your partner cheating on you at a party at someone's house and you blame the person whose house it is like it's it's not you blame the house i'm never never walking into that house again oh yeah i've got i've got a vendetta

1:05:12Rog:that house it's more like it's more like i've seen so many fights in liverpool in my youth and always in the middle of the fight, someone would be like, what are you looking at? And they'd walk up to that person and just start slapping them around. I think that's what Thomas Tuchel is trying to encourage that behavior. What, it wasn't you? What are you looking at? Come here, I'll give you some too. Look, storyline here is England traveling to the Azteca. It's a fortress. We know this. I think it's 7 ,350 feet over sea level, high altitude, smog, heat. The intimidating Mexican fans. Mexican team who have not conceded this tournament.

1:05:46Rog:They've won all their games. They're not lost. at home in World Cup history. I'm quite fascinated, Bet, your fiancé is down there. He's got a medical, he's been there for like 24 hours. Just tell the world what medical predicament is destroying the English press corps down there because of high altitude. Right, okay. So, rumour has it, well, this is actually fact. My fiancé landed in Mexico on, what day is it today? So he landed on Thursday and very, very quickly ended up with the shit. So he got a really bad stomach. And he thought he'd eaten something that was a bit rough. Turns out a lot of other people were in that same situation.

1:06:29And a lot of people are starting to get quite dodgy bellies from apparently the altitude.

1:06:35Rog:So that's it. You don't talk about this. We just keep saying high altitude or as Liam Gallagher talks about it, high attitude, which I just love also. So it's like, we don't really talk about the effects. Raw, the whole British press corps, all of them are just, the immediate thing is it just opens their bowels. It's tough for football. I don't think that's an effective altitude, I think. Well, that's what he got told, Rory. I don't know. This is hard-hitting journalism, Raw. This is why people come here. I put Raw on freeze just to stop him from coming up with bunkum science. What are you talking about?

1:07:11Rog:You think her boyfriend's got scurvy? Is that what you're telling me? Maybe he ate a bad taco or something. I don't know. I think Betty's fiancé might have eaten some food that did not agree with him. Because British people are very delicate in the stomach. Lots of them. Raw. Lots of them are currently, let's say, staying within proximity of their toilet, is all I will say, to be polite. And this is what we don't talk about. So this is what they're dealing with. I'm just saying, Thomas Tuchel, if you're watching it, Don't wear the white shorts for this game. A lot of self-conscious footballers at Rye Hunt says.

1:07:47Oh, no. Sorry.

1:07:49Rog:I'm so sorry. Rye Hunt says, can you please develop a dodgy bellies graphic? No. This is a serious show and we will not go there. But in case you're wondering, highest professional football stadium in England, I think is the Hawthorns in West Brom. Yeah, it is. Which is 540 feet above sea level, which would be about like the ankles if the Azteca was a person. Tuchel's biggest headache, it's not even the elevation, probably right back. Rhys James missed training on Friday. Jed Spencer did a, quote, recovery session. And Declan Rice, who filled in a right back for 20 minutes against Dr. Congo. Oh, do you remember Dr.

1:08:26Rog:Congo? There's an ongoing hamstring and back issue. Told Tuchel after the match, quote, I could do it for the team, but I'm in terrible pain. That means he's got the shits, just to be clear. Between Rice and Saka's patched over Achilles, You think Mikel Arteta must be like, Viva Mexico!

1:08:45Rog:Oh, God. They have yet to concede. Go on.

1:08:53Rog:Oh, raw. Oh, my God. Ever since you come up with your bunkum science, your camera's frozen. Mexico, yet to concede a goal in the World Cup. The opponent of a combined six shots on target in four games. They are so good at football, more than we've given them credit. They've conceded twice in this calendar year. After dispatching Ecuador, the manager, Javier Aguirre, most concerned about his post-match beverages because he said he'd run out of his all-time favourite drink, which turns out to be Lagavulin Scotch. He said, it helps me sleep after a game. Javier should probably try watching this show, Bet.

1:09:29Well, he should, shouldn't he? What's the drink that he likes?

1:09:32Rog:Lagavulin. It's like a very peaty Scotch. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Because he also, when he was annoyed about all of the scheduling for this match, was talking about garlic and water as well. I don't know if you saw that. Of course I saw that. He's a libation-fuelled human being, is what I'm telling you. On the bright side, outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised that the pubs in England and Wales can stay open until 5 a.m. for the game. Though he did rule out closing schools on Monday, he said children should be at school regardless of what happens. kids if you're listening don't go to school don't ever go to school just watch the football that's the only education you'll need and make whatever you're drinking make it a double by the way the Scots rule have you seen this may not be here at the World Cup but their impact is still being felt here's a Mexican food aisle in Morrison's supermarket at Calcady Fife in Scotland did you see this?

1:10:31Rog:I did not Tritoddy rog come on tricotti excuse me here we go there you go look there's a lot of there's a lot of mexican ancestry in scotland a lot of mexican ancestry there is and a lot a lot of food bans are the best bans what kind of game are we expecting well my favorite analysis came from my friends in buffalo wild wings who um who were talking about who have you got tomorrow i'm going to do an accent in a second who have you got tomorrow and they were like there was a guy who I think had been celebrating July the 4th for a while, maybe even since July the 3rd. And he said that they've got to play a mile up.

1:11:10And he said, there's nothing a mile high in England. And I was like, yeah, that is probably true. And that will be a major difference. He said that England are going to learn what CONCACAF is all about, which I very much enjoyed.

1:11:21Rog:God, that is actually, you know, this is why I love the World Cup, that England are going to learn what CONCACAF is all about. But I think, Roger, I'm a little bit kind of... So the altitude thing is real, obviously. The science is there. Betty's boyfriend. You don't want to hear it, but it's true. It's nothing to do with your bowels, but it is real. Bowels. It's bowels. I don't know. I think I'm sure that the fact that they're incredibly fit athletes means it will be mitigated in some way. But I think there's also something a bit dishonest about the fact that we're pretending that that's the only advantage in the game.

1:11:53Do you think Mexico would switch some of that altitude to have the vast wealth that English football has, the perfect academies, the massive TV deal, the access to the world's best coaches that you can pay for and recruit. England have got loads of advantages. The altitude just kind of levels the playing field a bit. And also, if England wanted to be used to it, maybe like the rest of the European teams, they should play outside Europe occasionally. That's such a good point. They used to. Yeah, no, they did. They did. Thomas Tuchel was saying that they would need to be there sort of 10 days to properly acclimatize or something.

1:12:33And obviously they can't physically do that during this tournament, but they could have done it, you know, in other times to get used to it and have a go. I think it's really interesting that have you seen a lot of the journalists out there that are like all going for a 5k run and they're like, hi, guys. So, you know, I do a bit of running. I like to do a park run every now and then. So I'm going to go on a 5k around the Azteca just to, you know, see what it's like. and they're like, I can't breathe. And you watch it and you just think, surely these professional players that have all access to all of these scientific things are going to handle it a bit better than you.

1:13:06Rog:Most of the journalists, it's the 20 cigarettes a day they're doing them in. But half of the journalists, to be fair, are like, you can't breathe. This is just an agony, a human suffering. Half of them are like, it was a piece of piss. Here's my time. I had no bother. So I don't really know what to believe. All I'll say is, if you're playing tomorrow, wearing adult diaper. There's no shame in it at all. And I can't wait for this game. I think it's not just a clash of styles. It is the CONCACAF meets English football. I think it is genuinely utterly thrilling. That place is mystical. That place is built on volcanic rock.

1:13:40Rog:That noise, the adrenaline of the Mexican players in that first 20 minutes is going to be in 11. I think it's going to be one of the most fascinating World Cup games and we are here for it. But Raw, we've reached a part of the night where we figure out what everyone suddenly believes by taking a look at Calci percentages to peek into the brain to football fans everywhere. Scambolo to sign up and trade on the Calci. We've just broken this one down. But Raw and Betty, looking at the graphic on screen, it is a virtual tosser. Raw, England, 51 % to advance. Mexico, 49%. Let us know. What's it going to be?

1:14:16Tell us. A lot of people have been watching those videos of journalists doing runs and thinking, that's the final thing that I need to see to make me think that this is going to be a coin toss, really. I don't know. I think this might actually be the most interesting game of the World Cup. I think tomorrow might even be the most interesting game. Does Brazil Norway seem to be amazing as well? I'm not sure I could call either of them, which makes me, as these calcary percentages prove, just as bad as the general public. I've no idea. I agree. I have absolutely no idea which way this one's going to go.

1:14:49Part of me thinks that England are going to do it. And I think Tuchel's been sort of playing into the media narrative of, you know, the acclimatisation and, you know, the fact that they're going to the Azteca and he's talking about all of the history. And he's sort of playing into that being like, well, yeah, it's a disadvantage for us to sort of keep everyone's, you know, hopes down in England. But actually, it's so hard. I have no idea, to be honest. The Azteca is like a cathedral in football. It's not just home advantage. You're playing in, you know, an absolute chapel for history.

1:15:24Rog:On holy space. And I do think, I think Mexico are going to do it. The other game you mentioned, Brazil-Norway. Clash of Titans. Earlier this week, Norway's Erling Vibes, Maxing Haaland and Brazil's Vinnie Julia. Just spent it casually chatting in the comment section of an AI Instagram video. But they put their faces on the car in the sing-along video from White Chicks, which I just adore. But this is where the friendship ends. Earl has scored 25 times in 13 straight appearances for Norway, which is just ecstatically powerful. Every game he's played in this tournament, he's had a goal. He's written himself onto the list of greatest Norwegians of all time, somewhere between chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen and the guy who invented the cheese slicer.

1:16:09Rog:It's Thor Bjorklund chat. I've just done you a favor. Betty, you spent time with Earl, And he's a wonderfully wacky, weird, beautiful persona. Yeah, I really like him. You can also tell that, you know, when he's like walking through the tunnel, walking into the sort of into the press room, into the different like boxes that you have to stand in when you do post-match interviews. When he passes players, even from the opposite team, they're all like, oh, hi, Erling. Everyone just seems to really like him and he seems to like everybody else. but um i one of the most recent interviews that i did with him was after manchester city beat brentford 3-0 and that was obviously when you had the whole sort of storyline around the title race and manchester city trying to catch arsenal etc etc and i did this post-match interview with him firstly where the press officers were like right you've got to be really quick be ready because as soon as erling comes in you've got to do one question and go erling like sort of strolls in And it's just like, hi, like talking to everybody, just up for a really long chat.

1:17:10So it was one of those weird situations. But I asked him a question like, you know, is the title race on your mind? Just expecting some like boring answer that a lot of players sort of do. And he was like, yeah, it's always on my mind. I think about it all the time. I play for Manchester City. That's all we want. It's just win the Premier League title. Of course, it's on my mind. He's just very honest. And I love talking to him.

1:17:29Rog:Earl is in it to win it. And this Brazil game is going to be a real test. We all have a true sense of this Norway team one way or the other after this game. Brazil have lost Paqueta to a thigh injury. Rafinha's hamstring has somehow regenerated. One in, one out. Probably will start on the bench, leaving Vinny Jr., Cunha, and that beautiful, perfect cube, Casemiro, as the main threat. A lot of Brazilian fans fail. Their team, Raw, is going to go as Carlo Ancelotti goes. Players have all talked about how incredible he is. The campaign was a disaster before he arrived with Brazil. He brought a sense of calm.

1:18:03Rog:He's an incredible man-manager who makes his players believe. He uses himself as a shield between the players and the media. Life had been a struggle before him. Ancelotti being something that's so rare in modern World Cup football for these guys, Roar, he brings a sense of peace of mind. I think he gives them what they would have at a club, the sort of clubs that they all play at, where you have a manager who you believe in. I think there are a lot of international teams where the players are probably aware that the coaching they get is maybe not quite as the same level as it is at their clubs.

1:18:36And they're very much aware that they're kind of, they are there to be the best version of themselves and to make up for the shortcomings elsewhere. Whereas I think all of them know that Carlo is genuinely elite. And he does give them that confidence, that faith, that he will have a plan. His calmness, I think, transmits itself to the squad. It's a really interesting game because it's the game's ultimate moments player in Haaland. He is a moments player against a team that is built to create moments. That's what this is. Brazil are not going to be the most coherent side. They don't have the most talent.

1:19:10That's France. The most coherent side is Spain. But Brazil maybe have enough players who can turn the game to their will that they can make up for all of those shortcomings. Yeah, this is another one, and I just couldn't call it. You also have the fact that Brazil have got probably the area their strongest is central defence.

1:19:31Rog:somebody I know will be testing that tomorrow. He's more a player of seconds rather than minutes, but that is all it takes. And interestingly, Noé have never lost to Brazil in four games, which is really a fascinating thing to witness.

1:19:52Rog:Okay, it's time for the food. It's the European mind cannot comprehend. And today, even though we're in Atlanta, oh my God, as we all know, Rory Smith, where's my bumblebee? Where is my soccer-playing bumblebee? There you go. We got the plethora of dips. Look at this, Rory. We spent extra. We got the – look at this. It's called a sauce butler or something. I can't remember what it is, but it's got a little football player, and it's very cute. Oh, a flight of buffalo sauces. Fancy. It's time. Because we couldn't get the same food as Rory very easily, we decided to go very proper American, introduce war to one of the staples of democracy, which is Buffalo Wild Wings.

1:20:36Rog:Raw, spent a lot of time in the Buffalo Wild Wings in the middle of a parking lot in Huntsville, Texas. Can't think of anything more American than that. So now it's time to get him a taste of what you really want. What sauce are you going for? I don't know. They all sound, each one sounds like I may end up like I'm playing at high altitudes. I'm going to dodge. Smokey a lot.

1:21:07that's really spicy oh my god buffalo wild rings

1:21:12Rog:why did you get spicy ones I've got to tell you like Mbappe is young and old looking it's both spicy and not spicy enough Roar I need to move this along because I've got to get to my Thanksgiving dinner, please. And I'm very late. Can you give me a score? 7.4. Is it really 7.4? I think you're being far too kind. That's a good win. Yeah. What do you give me? I quite like it. It's really spicy. What do you give me? It doesn't look like there's a lot of meat on it. Well, that's Buffalo Wild Wings. It's an optical illusion that they give you. They sell you the bones. And then you think there's meat on them.

1:21:50Rog:I don't know what to tell you. I'm not going to knock BWP because I've already pissed off Canadian music fans in the chat. But it's time to move on. I've got to get to this Thanksgiving dinner. I'm a dead man. Last but not least, we invite you, our dear listeners, to share your World Cup journeys with us. We want to hear from you. Meninblazersgmail.com if you are chosen by your memories, your journeys, your experiences, your thoughts, your loves, your fears. You can also drop it in the Meninblazers Discord, which is buzzing. We'll send you a pack. Tonight's letter comes from GFOP Mike Bellardo in Tampa.

1:22:21Rog:Robert, can you do the honors? Not really, I don't really talk. Okay. Greetings, Rory and Rod. This is like the worst hot ones ever. It's like you're on basic space and you're like crapping your pants. No, there's no crapping your pants to altitude in Mexico. Sorry, go for it. Long-time listener, first time writing in. Today, while listening to Night Cup, I had the dreaded realisation that the end of the World Cup is approaching faster than I imagined. Besides watching all the games, watching and listening to Night Cup has been the best part of the World Cup. A lot of people saying that. life will be dull once there are no night cup bus episodes to consume my wife and i listen to every episode and your show has been a great family routine for us to share and laugh about together i dragged my wife along to the tampa live show and she's been in love with the show ever since i'm sure that's what she says it sounds terrifying before the world cup of the live show she never joined me in listening to the show but this world cup has spread football fever to her and she's very invested in the episodes and the european mind cannot comprehend is there a way to keep Roger and Rory trapped on the bus in perpetuity.

1:23:20No. What? Thank you for your daily entertainment and suffering on the bus for the millions of fans you're spreading the beautiful game to. Courage, please get some sleep and stay hydrated. Mike in Tampa. Stay hydrated?

1:23:32Rog:I think we can stay hydrated with the Roger Loves. Sleep is a bit of a problem, I'm not going to lie. That makes me so happy, Mike, that your wife has fallen in love with this sport, this game, this tournament, through listening to our crap, which I hope is the low point of our football fandom. we are stuck in a groundhog day of international football. Like I've been stuck in this bus my whole life. We love you. Send us your postal address. We'll send you a patch. I'm honestly quite moved by your stuff, but I'm also a bit sleep deprived. So I'm not really showing it because I'm a bad man. I love this.

1:24:07Rog:I chose this letter myself, Mike, and I'm going to drop you a proper line when you send me your postal, you beautiful human being. Before we sign off, quick note, boys in Give and Go, doing their fifth watch along of the tournament live for Brazil, Norway. Go and watch them. I love those guys on the VAMOS channel. Link to that is in the show notes. And another reminder, we'll be live on stage right here by the bus, July 6, 6 p.m. with World Cup champion Becky Saraboon, Grammy winner, Killer Mike, Killer Rog, just ahead of the USA and Belgium at Founders Green in south downtown Atlanta. It's going to be a beautiful party.

1:24:41Rog:We're doing the pregame. They're actually showing the game on a massive screen right after us. we can watch along together. I can't wait to make memories with you all. One last personal note, 4th of July also marks the two-year mark since my old man passed away. I miss him every day. There's not a football game that I don't think about him during. I think about what he'd feel, what he'd see, who he'd love. A lot of weird players just cracked him up. Anyone I think who's read my book about the World Cup knows just how deeply entwined he is in all of my memories. And so I'm just raising a pint to my old man and also saying something I think we all know, that the football matches we feel are infinite in our life are the opposite of that.

1:25:31Rog:Do not waste a single one. Savour every second. Make great memories with those you love. That's probably the greatest thing out of all of this. Huge, huge love to all of you there, Bette. huge love to you man be safe in Texas fly home safely for tomorrow night I'm coming back tomorrow I need the salary to get the spice out do you know this is really sad I genuinely missed the bus so I'm coming home tomorrow and I'm calling it home it's not my home it's a bus I know it's like it worms its way it's like an awful person that's got endearing qualities it just worms its way into your life it's also Patty Hearst syndrome we'll be back tomorrow night again here in Atlanta check it out on our YouTube channel, Betty, you're the bomb.

1:26:15Rog:You'll be back on Morning Cup Day. Until then, we'll leave you with a clip from our interview with the great Hercules Gomez. We taped it earlier this morning talking about whether the revenge game is US-Belgium on Monday will resonate for the American players. We can't wait. This is Rog saying happy 4th of July to you all. Big, big love and courage. Here's Hercules. Name the three best players on this team so far. Foller and Balogun, Malik Tillman, and the other is Chris Richards. I can't believe I'm stressing how important a player like Chris Richards has been to the US Men's National League.

1:26:49Rog:Hard, hard to agree. The first two games only missed four passes, I believe. Set a FIFA record. By the way, Tim Raymond, he has been very good alongside Chris Richards. That duo has surprised the hell out of me. This US Men's National League back line has given up one goal. And this is a testament to this back line. They've been so good with Tyler Adams slipping in as a third center back, allowing Alex Freeman to join in the attack and allow the likes of Malik Tillman and Weston McKinney to make deep line runs to drag defenders out of position. It's high level. It really is.