Australian midfielder Connor Metcalfe has had enough of the disparaging remarks directed at the Socceroos from the United States. Since the draw for Group D took place in December, Australia has become the target of ridicule from American analysts.
Notably, former striker Landon Donovan referred to Socceroos head coach Tony Popovic as “smug” and predicted 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.”
Additionally, CBS analyst Mike Grella dismissed the Australian matchup as a “lay-up” for the American squad, currently ranked 16th in the world. This week, ex-US player Alexi Lalas intensified the tension by labeling the Socceroos as an “average team” following their recent 1-0 defeat against Mexico.
While Coach Popovic has taken these comments lightly, they have clearly ignited a fire within his players. With almost two weeks remaining until the showdown on June 19 (June 20 AEST), Australia is concentrating on a friendly match against Switzerland before their opening game against Turkey.
Metcalfe expressed his frustration regarding the ongoing commentary from the US, 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 added, “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 Popovic, with a 2-1 scoreline marked by intense physicality. During that match, US defender Chris Richards nearly confronted Socceroo Jason Geria after a challenge left captain Christian Pulisic injured.
Popovic announced that Cristian Volpato is “fit and available” for the friendly against Switzerland, anticipating that the player will see some action after arriving late to camp and missing the match against Mexico. The Socceroos coach noted that Volpato has shown significant improvement since switching his allegiance from Italy, although he needs to catch up on his fitness compared to the rest of the squad.
“There are no doubts about him as a person or as a player,” Popovic stated. “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.”
Popovic emphasized that Volpato is dedicated to improving, saying, “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 if Volpato’s late decision to join the Australian team had caused any disruption, 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.”
