America turns on pundit over Socceroos comment as rivals accused of World Cup ‘disrespect’

The American’s brutal swipe sets the stage for an intriguing World Cup showdown.

A number of American pundits have hit out at their colleague Mike Grella over disparaging comments he made about the Socceroos before the FIFA World Cup. It comes after the Aussies stunned Turkiye 2-0 in their opening game of Group D, with former Socceroos striker Scott McDonald accusing the European heavyweights of failing to respect the qualities of Tony Popovic’s team.

The Socceroos were written off by many observers before the tournament, with some of Turkiye’s players even taking a pop at them before the game. Former MLS star Grella was one of the most outspoken critics though after describing Australia as the “weakest team in the group” and suggesting the USA’s game against them would be a “lay-up” victory for the co-hosts.

The Socceroos silenced some of their American critics with a World Cup victory over Turkiye that sets up a huge second group stage game against the USA. Pic: Getty

It sets the scene for an intriguing battle between the two nations in Seattle on Friday night (Saturday morning AEST). And a number of Grella’s CBS Sports colleagues and compatriots have chastised the former MLS forward for giving the Aussies even more motivation for a game that will almost certainly see the winner progress to the knock-out stage.

Even a draw gives both teams a huge chance of advancing after the USA thumped Paraguay 4-1 in their opening group game. But Grella’s colleagues are worried his indictment of the Socceroos could come back to bite the Americans when the teams lock horns in Seattle.

“Grella’s going to be hired as their motivational speaker at this point,” former USMNT midfielder Benny Feilhaber said on the CBS Sports Golazo show. “He willed them to three points (against Turkiye) yesterday.”

Former American defender Jimmy Conrad added: “Everybody keeps discounting Australia and that seems to be not the right thing to do. So, thanks Grella. We appreciate that.”

And former USMNT goalkeeper Tony Meola said Sunday’s result proves the Socceroos game is the one the Americans should have been the most concerned about all along. ‘I think they’re (Socceroos) the best pressing team, where they want to press,” Meola said. “Athletically they’re really, really good and I think they’ll be the most disruptive.”

Former striker claims Turkiye ‘disrespected’ Socceroos

Former Socceroos striker McDonald believes some of Turkiye’s players – like Grella – underestimated the Aussies in Sunday’s shock defeat. He claims the Europeans failed to show enough respect for the skill and speed of the Aussies, particularly young gun Nestory Irankunda, whose opening goal on the counter-attack lay the platform for one of the nation’s greatest World Cup wins.

“If you watch it back from the rear view of where it starts from and how Nestory makes that run, they just get surprised by his pace,” McDonald said on Stan Sports. “I think they disrespected how quick he really was.

“And then that first touch to take it inside the centre back – if you’re a Turkish punter or someone watching that game, you’ve got to say the centre back has got to do better than that, not allowing him to come inside. But he does, and then from there… he just wraps it into the near post.”

McDonald said the finish from the 20-year-old is something you’d expect to see from an experienced striker. “To do it on the world stage at his age and in the first game of the tournament as well, really bodes well for him and the Socceroos,” he added. I’m so proud of him. I’m so proud of the team and we’re just on sky high here at the moment.”