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Socceroos vs USA 2026 World Cup match thread 🇦🇺 🇺🇸

Jtaussie79 said:
Poor starting 11 from Popovic for a start, US were there for the taking and they can count themselves lucky that they had a 12th man in the referee who made some shocking decisions

The manager really sat on the fence too in his post match interview regarding the ref.

We need a strong start against Paraguay and throw everything at them

I think Turkey will beat the shit out of the US in their next
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Welcome to the forum!
 
JS96 said:
I'm not sure Metcalfe or Irankunda do much more. It probably ends up like Turkey. In that case should've started Yengi and Irvine and kept it compact.

Our two mids were rushed and panicked.
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What about if we made no changes to the first game and decided to actually play a bit instead of inviting the USA to come at us that first half.
 
Long bow but my English friend has a point I think.

Push on Irankunda and ball lands on his forearms in box. Metcalfe running and get checked. Such things have been given but clutching at straws.
 
It's just the way we setup.

I know we don't have the speed at the back so we need to play 5 at the back but it's a strategy that only takes you so far. I think we are better on the ball with our young players than Popa thinks. We can genuinely match it with strong teams on the ball. But you need to setup in progressing manner otherwise even with talented players, you are pinned to the system.
 
Bunch_of_hacks said:
Geez Volpato looks good.

Already close to the best dribbler in a roos shirt ive seen. Up there with Kewell, Rogic, Carle and Burns for pure dribbling ability. Think out pf those Rogic the best dribbler but volpato is close
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I’ve been watching Volpato since a kid - he’s our best on the ball already and he’s still maturing
 
Bunch_of_hacks said:
Geez Volpato looks good.

Already close to the best dribbler in a roos shirt ive seen. Up there with Kewell, Rogic, Carle and Burns for pure dribbling ability. Think out pf those Rogic the best dribbler but volpato is close
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It's a start and more to come for some end product.
 
What are the chances of Poppa changing formation next match? - would be great to have Toure, Irankunda, Volpato and Metcalf all starting in a 4231

Beach
Circati - Souttar - Herrington - Bos
Oneil - Okon
Metcalf - Volpato - Irankunda
Toure
 
Popaball at its standard crappiest.

Put Leckie and Velupillay up front as his Mitch Duke chasers is how Popa sets up when he knows we cannot win. Play a defensive first half and hope we can hold out - but failed to do that yet again as it had to against a cohesive and much better structured US attacking side.

The US team is better than us, so we were always against it with them - especially in a very well supported home game. Hype might have carried us through if we had gone into the game with a positive mindset instead of Popa's blinkered negative first half tactics and team yet again.

On the game, it is frustrating to see a yellow card for Circati when he was late to the tackle because he was clearly being held back by a shirt pull and at the same time it is reasonable to consider his foot went up because his body was being pulled back. I honestly expected VAR to issue another yellow card mistaken identity review but the home team got the rub of the green big time.

An accidental clip in the box on one of our players is still a foul. It is an accidental foul but that is still a frigging foul. Should have been a penalty but VAR silent.

Irankunda, challenging against 4 in the box off a high ball, had one US player double handed push him in the front, and a clear shirt pull by another and VAR doesn't blink.

And yet at other times in the game everything resulted in a free kick at some point that the ref allowed at others. Inconsistent.

I have to say I expected a 3-1 loss while brazenly hoping for a lucky bounce or two to give us some result. Popa killed any likelihood of that by conceding the game from the start - as he has many times before. The team setup today was exactly like his previous failed games - isolate forwards, choose the best hound dogs available up front, play negative defensive football with a hope we can keep a clean sheet and jag a goal, and then hope that the second half will win us the game from 0-0.

I am disappointed in how "we" approached the game more than at the result itself. It is what Popa does and we can do nothing about that.

Volpato showed his quality, and the second half team looked like the line up we should have started with. It was a could have been game - unfortunately very much like a lot of Popa could have been games.

Well played in the second half to the lads once we got changes happening. What a shame we did not get to see how we would have gone in a serious 90 minute effort.
 
Bunch_of_hacks said:
100%. Can actually see that Turkey are stronger than USA, who we paid far too much respect to. Cant believe we went in with the same low block and then without the weapons on the counter.
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Baffling honestly I'll say again Poppa outsmarted himself and it was to late damage was done . We treated the USA like they were France or something.
 
Villa Dan said:
What about if we made no changes to the first game and decided to actually play a bit instead of inviting the USA to come at us that first half.
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I think we needed to make a smarter effort to hold the ball. Their press and our inept midfield made it hard. This is where we needed to narrow and truth to grind out fouls and slow their intensity.
 
Herringbone said:
What are the chances of Poppa changing formation next match? - would be great to have Toure, Irankunda, Volpato and Metcalf all starting in a 4231

Beach
Circati - Souttar - Herrington - Bos
Oneil - Okon
Metcalf - Volpato - Irankunda
Toure
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Zilch. He won't go to a back 4.
 
It's more frustrating because when you actually look at the game, the US did not really create that many chances or test Beach that much. Their goals were from our own mistakes. We could easily have won this game, but Poppa is too scared. Relying on a 35 year old to match the pace of the US was poor. Not leaving Toure on was poor.
 
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