Australia Freeze Against Hosts USA at World Cup: 4 Takeaways

Very few fancied the USA, one of the trio of host countries alongside Mexico and Canada, coming into the tournament, but Mauricio Pochettino’s team have looked extremely formidable in their opening matches.

Sergiño Dest, such a middling player at Barcelona and Spurs, is full of confidence after winning three league titles in the Netherlands with PSV; Folarin Balogun has been a regular goalscorer for Monaco in France, and he always looks threatening leading the line; the fluid midfield trio of Weston McKenzie, Malik Tillman, and Tyler Adams have a great understanding together; the USA didn’t even need missing superstar Christian Pulisic on the day.

Paraguay and the Socceroos, admittedly, haven’t been the most capable of opponents, and much more dangerous match-ups will await them in the knockout phase.

The USA’s potential Round of 32 opponent, for example, could be the likes of Senegal, Norway, Japan, and Ecuador; European heavyweights Belgium and Spain could await in subsequent rounds.

But the truth is: the USA haven’t looked this good at a World Cup since 2002.

Tony Popovic was rightly lauded for his bold team selections against Türkiye, but his changes didn’t work against the USA.

After playing so well in the opening match, star man Nestory Irankunda rather unfairly dropped to the bench, only coming on for the second half. His fellow opening-game goalscorer Connor Metcalfe also came on at the break. Cristian Volpato, another substitute, brought energy and enthusiasm in attack.

Mathew Łęckie, with 80 caps to his name, made sense as a selection for his wealth of experience, but he struggled at times up against the electric pace of the USA’s wide men.

Soon, Irankunda was stretching the aging legs of Tim Ream, running in behind with pace and cutting it back for a Socceroos chance. He just has to start against Paraguay.

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.

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 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. Irankunda and Mohamed Touré up top, please!