U.S. World Cup Team Training Base (IRVINE, Calif.) \u2013<\/strong> One storyline has dominated the buildup to the U.S. men’s national team’s second World Cup match against Australia on Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Specifically, one word.\u00a0<\/p>\n When both nations were drawn into Group D last December, former MLS player and current CBS analyst Mike Grella labeled the looming matchup a “layup” for the United States. His comment went viral and sparked a stir in the Australian camp.<\/p>\n So much so that Australian reporters have asked American players \u2013 who appear mostly unaware of the remark \u2013 about it this week.<\/p>\n Tyler Adams isn’t buying into the \u2018layup\u2019 noise. (Photo by Jordan Teller\/ISI Photos\/ISI Photos via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n “No, it\u2019s not a layup,” said Tyler Adams, rolling his eyes. “If anything, it\u2019s going to be one of the most difficult games that we play.”<\/p>\n Adams is right for several reasons. For one, the U.S. currently leads Group D on goal differential after a commanding 4-1 win over Paraguay, narrowly ahead of Australia following its 2-1 victory over T\u00fcrkiye on Saturday. A win Friday in Seattle would strengthen its grip on the top spot.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span> <\/p>\n “The game was fun,” a smiling Tim Weah told reporters on Tuesday. “That experience was fun. It was aggressive. I think from that game, we\u2019ve changed a lot. I think we\u2019ve gotten a bit more aggressive as well. It\u2019s going to be a wonderful clash, a wonderful game.”<\/p>\n Weah stopped short of calling that match a turning point for the team, but players do view it as an important moment in the squad\u2019s development. Since taking over in September 2024, Pochettino has worked hard to infuse his South American influence in the group, emphasizing passion, grit and the willingness to battle for one another.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re American, we don\u2019t take s***,” Sebastian Berhalter said, offering insight into what Pochettino has told the team. “Even though he\u2019s Argentinian, he has that mindset of like, \u2018Look, this is what we do and this is who we are and this is what America is about.\u2019<\/p>\n “Even from an outside perspective, he showed us Americans what we\u2019re about, and he really drills that into us and is someone who has helped us this last cycle.”<\/p>\n \u00a0USA’s Sebastian Berhalter will let his play doing the talking. (Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n The team is also hoping Pulisic, who contributed to the USA\u2019s first two goals vs. Paraguay, will be fit to play. The superstar forward has been dealing with a left calf issue that kept him off the field in the second half last Friday. As of Tuesday, his training has been “modified” and he was not participating with the full team. His status is “day-to-day,” according to a U.S. Soccer spokesperson.<\/p>\n The Americans are preparing accordingly and certainly not overlooking the Aussies in any way. Despite what some pundits say.<\/p>\n “All the talk is just nonsense to me,” Weah said. “They\u2019re a young team that has a lot of fight, a lot of grit, and a lot of hunger just like us. We respect them in the same way that we respect any other opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We\u2019re focused on the bigger picture and what we have to do as a team to make sure that we\u2019re prepared for the competition and the game. I think it’s going to be an amazing game.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY U.S. World Cup Team Training Base (IRVINE, Calif.) \u2013 One storyline has dominated the buildup to the U.S. men’s national team’s second World Cup match against Australia on Friday.\u00a0 Specifically, one word.\u00a0 When both nations were drawn into Group D last December, former MLS player and current CBS analyst Mike Grella […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}