Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Los Angeles: United States striker Haji Wright says his side won’t make the same mistake as an overconfident Turkey and take the Socceroos for granted, but still believes they will beat Australia in Seattle.
Wright was full of praise for Australia’s win in the opening group match, saying the Socceroos appeared to be a far more “fine-tuned” side than the one he faced last October when he scored twice in a come-from-behind 2-1 win in Colorado.
The US team, who resumed training at their Irvine, California base on Tuesday (AEST) following their 4-1 Group D win against Paraguay, were expecting to spend at least part of the day re-watching Australia’s 2-0 win over Turkey.
Wright, who had already closely watched the match, said one thing the US wouldn’t be doing was what Turkey did, and be overconfident about their chances. Turkey’s captain Hakan Calhanoglu stole the pre-match attention from the Australia game, saying his side would dominate the Socceroos at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver because they were the more talented team.
Wright chose to set the US confidence level at “neutral”.
“We saw a well-defined game plan from Australia,” he said. “I think they’re tough to break down. They’re dangerous on counterattacks. They have good players at the top of the pitch, and they were able to be effective and damage Turkey,” he said ahead of training.
“I think Turkey came into the game a bit overconfident, and I think we won’t make that same mistake. I think we know every team in the tournament is a good team, and they deserve to be here, so we’re ready for that.”
The US team hasn’t needed to take potshots at the Socceroos. They’ve had a number of former national players turned media pundits happily doing it for them. Former US player Mike Grella notably called the Seattle match-up a “layup” for the Americans.
US midfielder Tyler Adams said he did not see the match that way and said commentary like that did not help anybody.
“It’s not going to be a layup,” Adams said. “If anything, it’s going to be one of the most difficult games that we play.
“We saw a team that went out against Turkey and competed at a very, very high level. They’re combative, they’re smart, tactically they were unbelievably sound.”
All eyes in the US media have been on the fitness of star player Christian Pulisic, who performed strongly in the first 45 minutes against Paraguay before coming off at half-time after suffering a knock.
The US team has given no official update on Pulisic’s condition, but he did say after the game he had issues with his calf. Adams was not concerned.
“Christian will be ready, everyone,” Adams told reporters. “Let’s relax.”
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.
