World Cup warm-up LIVE: Socceroos take on Mexico at the Rose Bowl

G’day from glorious Pasadena, California. And I mean glorious: it’s been a perfect day, 24 degrees and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. I’m in position at the Rose Bowl, a very special sporting venue, and as I type this, the Socceroos are walking out onto the pitch for a bit of a look around. There will soon be more than 75,000 people here, and the overwhelming majority of them will be Mexican.

I walked here from my hotel, which took about 30-odd minutes … it was a beautiful stroll, and let me tell you, this part of Pasadena drips with that classic American old money vibe. There are some absolutely sprawling properties and mansions around here, with huge fences and gates and dedicated security booths out the front. There’s even Gamble House, better known as the home of ‘Doc’ Brown from the Back to the Future movies. Once I actually got to the Rose Bowl, I did a bit of exploring through all the tailgate parties outside the stadium, stopping off to enjoy some of the greatest tacos I’ve ever had from a street vendor – and I did not spot a single other Australian, aside from my colleagues in the media. As a preparation exercise, this will be fantastic for the Socceroos, with the atmosphere set to be as intimidating – if not, probably moreso – than what they’ll experience in Seattle when they face the United States in a couple of weeks.

The Rose Bowl bills itself as ‘America’s Stadium’. Think of it as analogous to what the MCG is to Australian sport, or Lord’s to English cricket. It’s a huge, pretty uncomplicated concrete bowl, which has seen some huge moments in its lifespan – from countless games of college football to five Super Bowls (including Michael Jackson’s halftime show in 1999, the one that established it as a pop culture phenomenon), the 1994 FIFA World Cup final, the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup final, plus concerts from Depeche Mode, U2, The Cure, The Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift … believe me, I could go on. What sort of imprint can the Socceroos leave on the Rose Bowl this evening? Will Nestory Irankunda score a banger? Will Cristian Volpato make his debut? Will Tony Popovic’s men make a big pre-World Cup statement?

Born and raised in Sydney, Volpato turned down the chance to play for Graham Arnold’s Socceroos at the last World Cup in 2022, and in March said he was “waiting for Italy” – after being paid a visit by Popovic and his assistant coach Paul Okon.

But it appears that, after missing out on Italy’s latest squad for upcoming matches against Luxembourg and Greece – who, like the Azzurri, also failed to qualify for the World Cup – Volpato has decided he is done with waiting, and ready to wear the green and gold. He has even added @Socceroos to his profile description on Instagram, posting a photo in front of the departures sign at Sydney Airport as he prepares to link with the team.

In his first public comments since it emerged Volpato would be joining the Socceroos in the United States, Popovic was reluctant to delve into the details of “who called who, when” – but he said the process was sparked by the player’s decision to represent Australia over Italy, and was unrelated to the hamstring injury which ruled Riley McGree out of World Cup contention.

“I’ve already spoken many times about the conversations we had and where it was left back in February. What’s changed? The player wants to play for Australia. That’s what’s happened,” Popovic said.

“We didn’t chase him up or [ask] ‘Have you changed your mind? Can you come to the World Cup?’ We’ve always appreciated him as a footballer. That hasn’t changed, but I have to always respect the player’s decision. And I’ve always done that.

“And once he made a decision that he wants to represent Australia, well, now there’s a decision that we have to make. Do we go through the process? How quick can that process be? Is it worth doing now? Putting everything together, we’ve come to the conclusion that we’ll take that process further. Fortunately, that’s all been ticked off. He’s actually eligible to play tomorrow, which he may. He may sit on the bench and come on.”

Well this feels exciting. Not because the World Cup has started, but because this feels like the official unofficial sign that it is about to start. In a fortnight’s time, the Socceroos will open their campaign against Turkey. But there are two warm-up friendlies to play before then, and today’s against Mexico is the first.

It is the last time coach Tony Popovic will have a chance to observe and experiment with his 30-man squad before shaving it down to a final 26 over the coming 24 hours or so. Which brings me to the news of the year (which of course dropped on Friday evening) that one Christian Volpato has decided he would like to switch allegiances from Italy to Australia after all, ending a years-long saga and bolstering the green and gold’s attack at the 11th hour.

FIFA has ticked off all the paperwork and the question now is will he play in this friendly or will he not? My thoughts are that Popovic and his sports science team would be giving that notion a hell no, but who knows?

Kick-off at the famous Rose Bowl is at 12pm AEST. I’ll be here and so will Vince Rugari, who has just landed in the US!