Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Seattle: The Socceroos’ World Cup campaign hangs in the balance with Australia needing a result from their 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 the 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,” 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 goalscorers from their first-round win– Nestory 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, the bold decisions did not pay off. He hooked Velupillay at half-time as one of three changes that saw him introduce Irankunda and Metcalfe, as the Socceroos chased the game. Popovic praised the performance 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 US threatened Australia from the start. They were rewarded in the 11th minute when Folarin Balogun showed a burst of speed down the left side and fired a low, threatening ball across Australia’s eight-yard box into the path of defender Cameron Burgess. The Australian could do nothing else but knock it into his own net.
The US doubled the lead with a contentious goal just before half-time. 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 that decision was overturned by the video check.
Australia almost went 3-0 down just after half-time when Alessandro Circati just managed to block Balogan 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 Cristian Volpato when Leckie got injured, had an impact.
“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 knockout stages of the tournament, and if Turkey fail to beat Paraguay in their group D clash on Saturday afternoon (AEST), America would also top the group with a game to spare.
US coach Mauricio Pochettino, who refused to weigh into Popovic’s selection decisions, 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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Nick Ralston is the deputy editor and investigations editor for The Sydney Morning Herald. He has previously spent time as news editor, justice editor and world editor.Connect via X or email.
