If you’ve been following Vince’s coverage from the States, you will know the tournament co-hosts have reignited their tit-for-tat with the Socceroos. During the week former international Alexi Lalas dissed Australia and urged Tony Popovic to print out his comments and stick them on the walls of the team’s dressing room.
“I hope that they print it out. Make sure you spell my name correctly,” Lalas said. “I hope that it’s wallpaper all around the Australian dressing room, because they’re going to need all the help they can get.”
Key context: back in December Mike Grella, an American ex-player turned analyst for CBS Sports, described the Socceroos as a “lay-up”. Last month Grella struggled to defend his position during an on-air grilling from Mark Schwarzer, and then said if the USA couldn’t beat Australia, they shouldn’t be at the World Cup.
Well, I would have been pleased to report that the US got off to a poor start in their friendly (in action now) against Germany, who scored an easy second-minute opener from a Joshua Kimmich free kick that picked out an unmarked Kai Havertz at the far post.
