Socceroos fans optimistic despite pro-US crowd and anthem flares

At least four more flares have just been set off during the playing of the Australian anthem.

During the US anthem fans have booed loudly.

The starting line up for the Socceroos is causing some angst for fans given the two goal scorers from last weeks match against Türkiye are not in it - Irankunda and Metcalfe.

But fans still say they're optimistic and the team has what it takes to beat the US.

Fed Square event management capped numbers more than an hour before the match start time, directing people to a live site at AAMI park.

The atmosphere is electric here.

There are pockets of gold in the stadium, but it is, as you'd expect, an overwhelmingly pro-US crowd and they all rise for the teams as they walk onto the pitch.

Time for the national anthems, starting with Advance Australia Fair, which is being belted out by those Aussie supporters - it's enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, a real visceral roar of patriotism and hope.

And now the Star Spangled Banner is roared - it's an awesome sound.

It's rare enough to hear the US anthem sung by a crowd and not as a backing to a singer - and I like it.

And there's the obligatory fly over by a quartet of Chinook helicopters.

Turkish midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu copped a fair bit of flack for saying his Türkiye side "dominated" the Socceroos in their 2-0 defeat.

"We didn't dominate?" Çalhanoğlu said to an Australian journalist after the match, when questioned about his pre-game comments.

"We dominated today. Australia was just behind, defending good. Two long goals they scored. It was our mistakes."

That got plenty of laughter, but in every stat apart from the most important one, Türkiye did dominate the Socceroos.

They had 30 shots, over 70 per cent possession, made two-and-a-half times as many passes and almost double the number of crosses.

And that's OK.

Because the only stat that actually matters is the one at the top, the score.

The Socceroos got their tactics absolutely perfect against Türkiye, a deep five-man defence with three enormous centre backs, a four-man midfield and a sole striker ready to hurt on the counter attack.

That worked brilliantly against a Türkiye side that simply didn't have the quality in the final third to open them up.

And it will do the job against plenty of other teams.

The USA lined up in a 4-2-3-1 in their opening win against Paraguay and dominated with their forward press.

The Socceroos set up wont allow them the same space they enjoyed against the South Americans though, so it will be interesting to see if anything significant changes.

The USA had 53 touches in the attacking box against Paraguay, tied for the eighth-most in a World Cup match since 1966.

That was 17 more than any other match the US have managed in that time.

Expect more backs against the wall defending today.

Read more about Nestory Irankuna's thoughts on how much Türkiye dominated here.

This match may not have been one that many outside of the US or Australia would have circled before the tournament got underway.

But after the US dismissed the Socceroos in the lead up to the tournament and both sides won their opening matches healthily, this potential Group D decider comes with a lot of added spice.

When the draw was made, former Major League Soccer player Mike Grella said the Socceroos represented a "lay-up" for the hosts.

Landon Donovan, now a Fox Sports analyst, tipped the Socceroos to finish ​bottom before the tournament and described coach Tony Popovic as "smug".

That being said, Donovan has been made to look like an idiot almost every time he opens his mouth at this tournament, calling France "arrogant", which earned Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry's ire.

I mean, if you want to talk football, I'd rather hear from them than him.

It has to be said, the players are really not buying into that.

"All the talk is nonsense to me," Tim Weah said on Tuesday.

"When you look at the Australian team, they ​are a young team that have 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 would respect any other opponent.

"I don't know ​what the media is trying to do, but we're not really focused on that. We're focused ​on the bigger picture and doing what we have to do as a team to be prepared."

What is the media trying to do?

My theory is the US media may have been worried about the USA's chances and were latching onto what they legitimately thought would be a game that the US could win.

The Socceroos, out here at the ends of the earth, are easier to pick on than big names like perennial European dark horses Türkiye and a South American team that carries the mysticism of its continent to any tournament despite their actual ability in Paraguay.

So I kinda get it.

Does make the Americans look pretty stupid now that it's the Aussies who are their biggest challengers to win the group, though.