How does a team follow up its best performance in the World Cup in nearly a century?
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For the U.S., preparing for its second group-stage game Friday against Australia has meant remembering when times were not so good. It was only seven months ago — the last time the U.S. played Australia.
That match last fall was technically a non-counting friendly, but that didn’t lower the intensity of what became a physical contest as Australia challenged the U.S. from the start. Mauricio Pochettino, who was a year into his tenure as the U.S. national team coach, entered the locker room at halftime of a 1-1 tie and began a “rant,” U.S. midfielder Sebastian Berhalter recalled.
“They come and they fight,” Pochettino told the team in a video it released later. “When are we going to fix that?”
The U.S. would beat Australia 2-1, and ahead of a rematch Friday, U.S. players were asked whether there was a lesson to be taken from Pochettino’s words during their last matchup against the Socceroos.
“I think one is that we’re American, we don’t take s—,” Berhalter said. “I think that’s something that [Pochettino] really put in, and you know, he’s, even though he’s Argentinian, he has that mindset of like, ‘Look, this is what we do, and this is who we are, and this is what America is about.’”
That mindset, Berhalter added, is something Pochettino “really drills into us.”
That is still the case, even though seven months later the U.S. is in a far different place after a 4-1 tournament-opening victory over Paraguay that tied for the largest World Cup margin of victory in U.S. history. Folarin Balogun scored two goals, becoming the first U.S. player to score multiple times in a game since 1930. The win and Australia’s own 1-0 start to the tournament ensure that whoever wins Friday will clinch a spot in the knockout round.
Pochettino’s message after the Paraguay game was that he was “proud,” striker Haji Wright said. But it was only the first group-stage game, and the U.S. knows from experience that a gritty, physical Australian team awaits next.
“There’s been moments throughout the process where things weren’t going amazing,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “Now all of a sudden, some people consider [our play] amazing, whatever it is, but we’ve stayed completely humble in our approach to every single game and trusted the process of what we’re going through.”
Australia is coming off a 2-0 win over Turkey on Saturday.
“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,” Wright said. “I think Turkey kind of came into the game a bit overconfident, and I think we won’t make that same mistake.”
One of the only blemishes the U.S. suffered during its otherwise overwhelming opening win was when star Christian Pulisic, who set up the first two U.S. goals with his runs and passing, couldn’t warm up effectively at halftime and was substituted. Pochettino said Pulisic had picked up a minor injury days earlier, and Pulisic said he was kicked again in his left leg during the first half.
He has trained off to the side of his teammates this week, fellow attacker Tim Weah said. Pulisic’s status for Friday’s game is unclear, with Pochettino saying Thursday only that “we’ll see.”
“I’m just praying to God that he feels 100% fit,” Weah said.
Adams tried to project calm.
“Christian will be ready, everyone, let’s relax,” he said. “He’ll be fine.”
