US men’s soccer ready for World Cup match vs. Australia

LOS ANGELES — When asked if the United States’ next World Cup match against Australia would be an easy win, Tyler Adams shut it down fast. Teammate Haji Wright was not far behind, echoing the same principles.

“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.”

The U.S. will face Australia on Friday in the second match of group play, a matchup that has the capability of deciding both countries’ fates for the remainder of the World Cup.

Both teams sit at 1-0 after the first week of games.

Australia defeated Turkey on Saturday 2-0, but Adams and Wright made it clear that their attitude and focus does not waver.

“Turkey kind of came into the game a bit overconfident, and I think we won’t make that same mistake,” Wright said. “We know everything in the tournament is a good team, and they deserve to be here.”

The United States faced off against Australia in a friendly match back in October. The U.S. won 2-1. 

Wright scored both goals in the match and recalled how challenging the Australian defense was.

“They were laying in tough challenges, and we kind of had to match the intensity,” Wright said. “I remember going to halftime, the coach wasn’t too happy with letting them punch us without punching back. Not going into this game, we’ll be able to prepare a bit more knowing how they’re going to be.”

Adams echoed Wright’s sentiment, praising the defensive evolution Australia has made since that friendly.

“It was a really combative game in that friendly as well,” Adams said. “Defensively, they were really, really sound. They didn’t give up a ton of chances. Winning duels, combative.”

While the squad is laser-focused for Friday, its dominant performance against Paraguay granted them a day off. Following the 4-1 win over Paraguay on Friday, the teams did not come in for training on Sunday.

The four goals scored against Paraguay were the most scored in a single game in USMNT history. It also topped the total goals that they scored in the 2022 World Cup, in which they scored three.

A day off during the World Cup is extremely rare, and the players understand this.

“To have a day completely off in a tournament is rare,” Adams said. “The fact that they gave us that day off shows the work that we’ve put in throughout the past few weeks in order to earn that. We don’t take it lightly.”

Something to monitor ahead of the match is the health concern of star player Christian Pulisic.

Pulisic, who had an assist in the first half, exited the game in the second half due to a calf injury. When asked about his availability for the match against Australia, Adams gave no doubt that Pulisic will play.

“Christian will be ready, everyone,” Adams said. “Let’s relax. I think he picked up a knock a few days before the game, and I think he got kicked in the same spot again during the game. When you go into halftime, things obviously get tight but he’ll be fine.”

The players know the steps needed to win on Sunday. Watching film and breaking down what Turkey failed to do is at the top of their list during training.

“They’re tough to break down,” Wright said. “They’re dangerous on counter attacks. They have good players on top of the pitch, and they were able to be effective and damage Turkey.”

Wright also added that they need to be aggressive early.

“If we go into the game clinical and able to take our chances early, I think we’ll be able to come out with the win,” he said.

If they have any chance to win, the U.S. players know to keep their foot on the gas.

During halftime of the friendly match between Australia, cameras caught coach Mauricio Pochettino encouraging his players to bring the intensity

“They come and they fight,” Pochettino said. “When are we going to fix that? … Match their aggressiveness.”

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