‘Flat and lethargic’: Popovic lashes Socceroos’ horror first half after US defeat

The Socceroos’ World Cup campaign hangs in the balance with Australia needing a result from its final group game to progress into the knockout stages after being outplayed by the United States in a 2-0 loss in Seattle.

Australian coach Tony Popovic lashed his side’s first-half performance, saying they were “flat and lethargic” as the US scored two goals in a dominant 45-minute performance where the Socceroos never got into the game.

After the high of a first-up win against Turkey, and with so much pre-match hype in the build-up to this game, the Australians looked overawed by the occasion of playing the tournament co-hosts in the heat and in front of a loud, parochial Lumen Field crowd.

The side must regather itself for its game against Paraguay in five days’ at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, where they will need at least a draw to ensure they progress out of Group D and into the World Cup knockout stages.

“We didn’t match [the US] in the first half,” Socceroos coach Tony Popovic said. “We were slow to every ball, and we couldn’t really wrestle back any momentum, which made it difficult.

“And we conceded a couple of soft goals … but we just looked flat and lethargic in the first half.”

As he did in the Turkey match, Popovic made some big selection calls, this time leaving Australia’s two goal scorers from that game – Nestroy Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe – on the bench. Instead, he opted for veteran Mathew Leckie and Melbourne Victory’s Nishan Velupillay.

But unlike the opening game, Popovic’s bold decisions did not pay off. He hooked Velupillay at halftime as one of three changes that saw him introduce Irankunda and Metcalfe, as the Socceroos chased the game. Popovic praised his side’s fight in the second half but also defended those selection calls.

“I’m not sure how much the personnel would have made a difference in that first half,” he said. “It was warm for us out there; it was difficult. We found it difficult.”

Even without star winger Christian Pulisic, who failed to overcome a calf injury in time to play, the United States threatened Australia from the start. They were rewarded in the 11th minute when Folarian Balogun showed a burst of speed down the left side and fired a low, threatening ball across Australia’s eight-yard box. Defender Cameron Burgess could do nothing else but knock it into his own net.

The US doubled the lead with a contentious goal just before halftime. A training ground move from a free kick saw Sergino Dest blast a shot from the top of the box, which then took a deflection that Alex Freeman headed home. It was called offside by the referee before being awarded a goal by VAR.

Australia almost went 3-0 down just after halftime when Alessandro Circati just managed to block Balogan’s shot after the American made another run through Australia’s defensive line. Australia’s performance improved from there and the introduction of Irankunda and Metcalfe, as well as Christian Volpato when Leckie got injured, had impact. But Australia never truly got back into the game.

“We don’t have the experience of playing in big leagues and having the minutes under our belt, but the response, where you can easily cave in under the pressure, physically, emotionally, we responded extremely well,” Popovic said of Australia’s second-half effort.

“I’m really pleased with the second half, and it would have been nice to get a goal in those moments that we had, to just see what could happen next. But everyone should be very happy with how they responded after the break.”

The win puts the US into the knock-out stages of the tournament, and if Turkey fails to beat Paraguay in their Group D clash, America would also top the group with a game to spare.

US coach Mauricio Pochettino, who refused to weigh into Popovic’s selection decision, said his team must keep “believing that we can win (and) knowing that we need to go really hard”.

Get across our World Cup coverage

• As it happened: Socceroos lose 2-0 to USA despite late fightback in Seattle
• Player ratings: Should have hit the target: We rate every Socceroos player
• On the ground: Seattle’s only Aussie pub in World Cup mode
• Opinion: How the World Cup exceeded expectations in its first week

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