When USA coach Mauricio Pochettino was asked about Australia’s strengths ahead of the two sides’ World Cup meeting in Seattle, he settled on a word.
Belief.
“They [Australia] are a very strong team, really believing in what they are doing,” Pochettino said.
“It’s the mentality, the mindset and the belief.
“The most important thing is how we need to match their aggressiveness and that mentality, mindset that make them very dangerous.
“We need to be, we need to believe in the same way that they believe if we want to compete.“
Mauricio Pochettino (left) and Tony Popovic have faced off before, but never with this much at stake. (Getty Images: Omar Vega)
That belief hasn’t been concocted overnight. It’s the result of long-term planning by Tony Popovic and his staff to ensure this talented group came into the World Cup with more than just skill.
“I think it takes a long time to grow that belief,” said Socceroos stand-in captain, Harry Souttar.
“Being in camp since the start of May, every training session’s gotten better, the standards gotten better.
“It’s just looking around the dressing room and looking beside you as you’re walking out into the pitch with and seeing the threats that we’ve got on our team.”
Harry Souttar has been training with the Socceroos for more than a month and has seen it evolve. (Getty Images: Ezra Shaw)
That belief was embodied by the likes of Patrick Beach, Paul Okon-Engstler and Nestory Irankunda in Australia’s first World Cup game, as the trio repaid the faith put in them by Popovic to start against Türkiye.
It’s not gone unnoticed by Pochettino.
“They create a great mentality and it’s difficult to play with a team that really believes in what they are doing,” he said.
“It’s going to be really, really tough.
“A team that is full of confidence, with great mentality, with a very clear style of football. And that is a good test for us.”
Socceroos ‘believe’ they belong
Prior to this World Cup starting, Australia was written off externally.
US media personalities were scathing in their assessment of the Socceroos, labelling them easy beats.
Tony Popovic has meticulously planned every aspect of Australia’s World Cup campaign. (Getty Images: Lachlan Cunningham)
So while Australia’s performance against Türkiye, in which they bested a team boasting some of the brightest young stars on the planet, might have caught some by surprise, for Popovic it was just the next step in his side’s evolution.
“We’ve seen the evolution of the team, the growth of the team,” he said.
“We’ve seen players maturing individually, but also being able to act collectively as one.
“It’s been building, and that was a game that it all came together in terms of the belief, being present in the moment, understanding it’s a World Cup for a lot of the boys for the first time, but playing as if they belong there.”
Tony Popovic has shown he believes in every member of his 26-man squad. (ABC News: Tom Wildie)
Australia’s belief will be tested again in Seattle, in one of the loudest stadiums in the United States, in front of a predominantly American crowd.
Popovic knows his side will need to step up again.
“They’ll go into the game understanding their roles better, being more comfortable out on the big stage,” he said.
“I’m confident that these boys can have another level that they can go better again.”
Popovic’s belief in his squad was rewarded against Türkiye. Now an even bigger challenge, and prize, awaits.
- ABC Sport will be live blogging all the Socceroos action tomorrow morning from 4am. Join the team at abc.net.au/news/sport
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