Connor Metcalfe, a midfielder for the Socceroos, has had enough of the derogatory remarks aimed at Australia from the United States. Since the draw in December placed Australia in Group D alongside the co-hosts, the Socceroos have become a target for American commentators.
Former striker Landon Donovan criticized Socceroos coach Tony Popovic, branding him “smug” and predicting that Australia would finish last in their group, behind the US, Turkey, and Paraguay. He sarcastically remarked, “Thanks for coming, Aussies and your smug coach – you can get back on the Qantas airplane and head back home, pal.”
CBS analyst Mike Grella described the matchup against Australia as a mere “lay-up” for the US men’s national team, currently ranked 16th in the world. This week, former US international Alexi Lalas added fuel to the fire by labeling the Socceroos as an “average team” following their 1-0 defeat to Mexico.
While Popovic has dismissed the criticisms, the players appear to be using it as motivation. With nearly two weeks until their match on June 19 (June 20 AEST), the team is concentrating on an upcoming friendly against Switzerland before their tournament opener against Turkey.
In the lead-up to the friendly on Saturday, Metcalfe expressed his frustration, stating, “I mean, I’ve seen all the US stuff, and I’m just sick of it, to be honest – I just am. Like all this talk – it’s just – let’s just wait for the game, whatever happens, happens.”
He continued, “It’s just so much rubbish and I’m just sick of it. So we’ll just wait and we’ll play – it’ll be a good game. We had a friendly against them. It was tense, it was feisty, and probably going to be the exact same.”
In their previous encounter in Colorado last October, the US handed Australia their first loss under Coach Popovic.
The match ended in a 2-1 defeat for the Socceroos, characterized by intense physicality, notably when US defender Chris Richards nearly confronted Socceroo Jason Geria after captain Christian Pulisic was injured during a challenge.
Popovic announced that Cristian Volpato is “fit and available” to play against Switzerland and expects him to see action, having arrived in camp too late to face Mexico. The Socceroos’ coach noted that Volpato has been looking sharp since switching his allegiance from Italy, although he needed time to catch up to his teammates’ fitness levels.
“There’s no doubts about him as a person or as a player,” Popovic remarked. “We’ve just got to get him fit. He hasn’t played a lot of football and he had eight to nine days off before he joined us.”
“He’s working hard. He’s trying to get up to speed and we’ve seen some good inroads in the last couple of days.”
When asked whether Volpato’s late switch had caused any tension within the team, Metcalfe responded, “It’s been pretty smooth sailing. I mean, he’s come in, he’s a really nice, relaxed guy. We see it online and we know the past and what’s been done, but we’re not here to talk about that. Whatever’s said is done, so it’s fine.”
