IRVINE, Calif. – After arguably the best World Cup performance in the history of the program against Paraguay, the U.S. men’s national team is preparing for a different test.
That test will take place under unexpected circumstances after Australia upset Turkey 2-0 in their opener, gaining momentum ahead of Friday’s battle with the U.S. in Seattle. Despite the narrative fueled by comments from a few American pundits that the U.S. ought to easily beat the Socceroos, Mauricio Pochettino’s team is dismissing the noise and choosing not to underestimate an opponent that should be harder to play against than Paraguay.
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“The Paraguay game, obviously they played a different formation to Australia, and it was a little bit more open,” Antonee Robinson said. “I felt like they were a bit easier to get in behind, they held a mid block and runs in behind troubled Paraguay a little bit. Australia seemed pretty happy being comfortable in the low block. They’ve obviously got big, strong defenders, so that will be difficult to break down. It’s going to be something we’re working on in the next few days.
“And speaking to the boys who played [against Australia] ]in October as well, they said the game against Turkey looked completely different than how they played from last camp [against us]. It’s going to be a different challenge, and we’ve got clips to go off, and we go from there.”
