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Australia Freeze Against Hosts USA at World Cup: 4 Takeaways

Australia completely froze against the USA in their second World Cup group match, making the hosts seem like genuine contenders

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Australia play against the USA at the World Cup

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After the heroics of the Türkiye match, what a letdown. The Socceroos completely froze against the USA in Seattle, making the hosts seem infallible and dangerous and like genuine contenders (surely not?).

Two goals inside the first half completely killed any chance of an Australian victory, with Cameron Burgess, so strong in defence in the opening match, first conceding an own goal, before Alex Freeman narrowly stayed onside to stab home the second from a corner.

In truth, USMNT could have been up by 3 or 4 before the break. The Socceroos were that bad — around 30% possession and just 1 shot on target in the first 45 minutes says it all. The Socceroos, aided by the arrival of Nestory Irankunda, did much better in the latter portion of the second half, but it was too little, too late.

How about some positives? Australia still have a very good chance of making it out of the group.

Paraguay are widely considered to be the weakest team in Group D, so Tony Popovic’s men should be capable of beating them on the final day. They’ll have to be better — a lot better — during that match, though.

In the meantime, check out our 4 takeaways from the USA match below.

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Ciara and Russell Wilson at the World Cup

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Stop with the Celebrity Culture

Americans love celebrity culture. They worship celebrities. But the amount of times the TV feed cuts to ‘famous’ faces in the crowd is becoming too much.

Watching the Socceroos and USA match, it felt like that classic Norm MacDonald bit at the Big Live Comedy Show in 2013, when he stumbled over the names of various random YouTubers. “All the stars are here!” MacDonald cried with fake gusto, before naming a bunch of absolute non-entities.

During today’s match, the camera repeatedly panned to a variety of NFL players, past and present, and their partners, local politicians and singers, while the overseas commentator — at least on my TV broadcast — sounded thoroughly bored trying to muster enthusiasm for the people being shown on the screen.

The World Cup is taking place in a country where the NBA Finals was won by a team who literally have a ‘Celebrity Row’ at their stadium. It’s an entirely different culture. But enough already.

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Connor Metcalfe plays against the USA at the World Cup

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More Bravery Needed

There was a positive spell around the 70-minute mark where the Socceroos finally showed what they can do.

Buoyed by the energy of Irankunda, who kept voicing his frustration at the lack of urgency around him, they finally took the game to the USA, remaining calm in possession, thrusting forward with intent, throwing crosses into the box.

It obviously wasn’t enough, of course, but it was encouragement for Aussie fans watching at home after such a dismal opening 70 minutes.

Popovic touched on the differences between the two halves in his post-match interview, conceding that his team were much, much better, winning their individual duels, in the second 45 minutes.

Popovic has favoured a low block against the technically superior Türkiye and USMNT, but his team has to show more bravery in attack against Paraguay, the weakest team in the group, for a longer spell than they did here.

Irankunda and Mohamed Touré up top, please!

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