ANALYSIS: Under the midday sun in Seattle, the Socceroos melted in a brutal letdown
Seattle: Tony Popovic is a famously meticulous guy. On his watch, the Socceroos have done everything they possibly could to prepare for this World Cup.
No detail, however small, has been overlooked – they spent weeks training in Florida to get used to the summer heat, they played a warm-up match against Mexico to understand how it feels to play a tournament co-host, and they played another friendly at midday, like this match was, just so they knew precisely how to structure their morning.
But you can run all the dress rehearsals you want. How much can they actually prepare you for the visceral truth of the real thing; the moment you’ve been building to for months and have been thinking about for every waking moment?
It’s one thing to do the preparation, but it’s another to be ready. For this, the Socceroos just weren’t. Under the midday sun in Seattle, against a team that was, they melted.
After one of the great Australian World Cup victories, this was a brutal comedown. The Americans were too strong, too quick, too committed, too clever, too much, too everything.
The Socceroos, meanwhile, were not enough anything – at least not in the bitterly disappointing first half that lost them the game.
As a soccer nation, we envy the United States, or at least we should. We face so many of the same challenges – a domestic league competing for attention against bigger sports, a national team trying to earn more respect from the rest of the world – but they are further along in identifying and implementing solutions. We would love to host a World Cup like them, to be able to turbocharge the growth of the game, like this tournament will surely do.
Our capacity to match their rate of improvement is limited by resources, and one of those resources is time. Their best players are where we would like our best to be in four years from. If nothing else, this was an experience that will lead to growth – or at least we can only hope it was, because otherwise, what was there to take from this?
Read Vince Rugari’s analysis in full here.
Sydney fans feel the sting of Socceroos loss
It’s hard to get people to talk at the best of times. It’s even harder to get them to talk when their country has just lost to the United States.
As I pinballed my way through the Golden Barley crowd at full-time, every punter had the same reaction when I asked them their thoughts on the match: a heavy sigh.
For all the energy and enthusiasm the hundreds of locals brought to the pub so early in the morning, it was hard not to feel the sting of defeat to the US and the collective comedown from fans who were so hopeful after their team’s shock 2-0 win against Turkiye six days earlier.
But local Tom Stelzer remained hopeful Australia would make it out of the group stage, and said the loss was probably a good wake-up call ahead of the Paraguay match next Friday.
Up next: Scotland v Haiti
It’s a big morning for Scottish Australians as we head over to our next match of the day at Boston Stadium set to kick-off at 8am (AEST).
But don’t worry, we’ll still be bringing you analysis, team interviews and fan reactions from the Socceroos after their 2-0 loss to USA.
Socceroos player ratings: We run the rule over every performance
The Socceroos were brought down to earth by Mauricio Pochettino’s USA side, losing 2-0 on Saturday morning (AEST) after a horror start against the host nation in Seattle.
There were more selection surprises from coach Tony Popovic, who left Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe – the goalscorers from the opening game – on the bench. The Socceroos fought back in the second half after they were injected into the game along with Jason Geria, but couldn’t score.
We rate the performance of every Australian player.
Socceroos (formation 5-4-1)
18. Patrick Beach (goalkeeper)
Wasn’t as decisive as he was in the opening game, this time up against a more active US attack. May have been impeded by Balogun on the second goal but was let down by his defence. Rarely seen in the second half. 6/10
ANALYSIS: Under the midday sun in Seattle, the Socceroos melted in a brutal letdown
Seattle: Tony Popovic is a famously meticulous guy. On his watch, the Socceroos have done everything they possibly could to prepare for this World Cup.
No detail, however small, has been overlooked – they spent weeks training in Florida to get used to the summer heat, they played a warm-up match against Mexico to understand how it feels to play a tournament co-host, and they played another friendly at midday, like this match was, just so they knew precisely how to structure their morning.
But you can run all the dress rehearsals you want. How much can they actually prepare you for the visceral truth of the real thing; the moment you’ve been building to for months and have been thinking about for every waking moment?
It’s one thing to do the preparation, but it’s another to be ready. For this, the Socceroos just weren’t. Under the midday sun in Seattle, against a team that was, they melted.
Popovic: ‘Second half was outstanding’
Australia’s coach Tony Popovic has spoken to SBS after the full-time whistle to give his initial assessment of the 2-0 loss.
Tony Popovic… What went wrong?
“It’s a good question. I don’t know if it was the occasion, but we looked sluggish, heavy-legged. They were quicker, they were more powerful. They won every duel, they won every second ball, and when you do that, it makes it very difficult to get any gain any momentum.
“And then we conceded two soft goals, but I thought the reaction, [in the] second half was outstanding… I think the players show how good they are in the second half, but obviously at this level you can’t give away that much in the first half.”
Kewell: ‘You need to play constantly at 100 per cent’
Harry’s post-match thoughts on SBS are honest, and blunt. He gives credit to McKennie and Dest in particular for hurting Australia out wide, and then turns his attention to the Socceroos.
“The tactics for the USA were spot-on,” Kewell says. “But for me, again, it was just disappointing that we didn’t have this energy in the first half.
“I understand that the USA may have taken their foot off the pedal, but in moments like this you need to play constantly at 100 per cent. You need to go for it. This is [your] one chance to play in a World Cup, and it’s every four years. You have to go and attack, and I thought when we did that we looked dangerous.”
Group D standings
My initial thoughts
That was undoubtedly a much-improved second half from Australia, and Popovic’s Socceroos have so far had few problems when it comes to performing in the second half of games. But it just doesn’t offset the stinker that was the first.
Even as I type that, I cannot decide if the Socceroos were very bad or if they were more made to very bad by a very good opponent. Of course, it’s probably a combination of both, but there might well be post-match questions about Australia’s starting XI for this one. Irankunda and Metcalfe did not start. Was this the right call?
Full-time statistics
Full-time: USA 2-0 Australia
The whistle blows and that’s all she wrote. The American fans roar as the ball flies out of play and they wait for confirmation of a 2-0 win that sets them up very nicely to finish top of this group. The US get one more attack before full-time. Freeman, who doubled America’s lead, closes his eyes and points to the heavens.
The players shake hands, and appear to be very nice to each other given the barbed build-up. Poch embraces his coaching staff. Popovic takes of his black blazer to reveal his black shirt and black tie, and makes a beeline for the referee to deliver some strong words. “I’ll have four fried chickens and a Coke, and some dry white toast.” He doesn’t really say that.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
