US Soccer Team Ready for Physical Challenge Against Australia

Although the cheers are still ringing in the Americans' ears after their impressive World Cup-opening victory, this US team says it's prepared for the physical and mental challenges of the weeks ahead — including what's likely to be a physical meeting with Australia on Saturday morning at 5am (AEST).

Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter credits this tenacity to coach Mauricio Pochettino, who has taken over a team that repeatedly flopped on the international stage and infused it with a stronger mentality grounded in a few core beliefs.

"I think one is that we're American. We don't take s***," Berhalter said.

"I think that's something that [Pochettino] really put in.

"Even though he's Argentinian, he has that mindset of, like, 'Look, this is what we do, and this is who we are, and this is what America is about.' So I think he just, you know, even from an outside perspective, he showed us Americans what we're about.

"He really drilled that into us, and I think that's something that has helped us this last cycle."

That mentality was partly forged last October when the US faced Australia in what turned into a scrappy 2-1 friendly victory in Colorado. Pochettino lambasted his team at half-time, imploring the players to stand up for themselves after the Socceroos delivered physical tackles and punishing play while US midfielder Christian Pulisic left with an injury.

"Watching that game last year, you could see they were up for it," said Berhalter, whose father, Gregg, coached the US team before Pochettino.

"They were putting in challenges, and I think that's one of the reasons Mauricio had that half-time rant, and said, 'These guys can't kick us around.' I think he was right."

The players heard their coach's pleas and responded with increased physicality in a game that ended with a combined 19 fouls and two yellow cards.

The Americans have largely kept it up since then, playing with confidence and assertiveness throughout their 4-1 victory over Paraguay in Inglewood. Although they haven't racked up a string of impressive victories since Pochettino took over, the team's improvements in temperament and tactics have been obvious, and the World Cup could be the place where everything blossoms.

"That game in Colorado was fun," winger Tim Weah said with a grin.

"That experience was fun. It was aggressive. I think from that game, we've changed a lot. We've gotten a bit more aggressive as well."

Pulisic's health is again a concern for the Americans after he was forced to work out on his own for the second straight training session Tuesday because of the calf injury that limited him to the first half against Paraguay. The team described its play-making attacker as "day to day" for Friday's match in Seattle.

Even if Pulisic is limited again, the Americans believe they can go toe-to-toe with Australia again. Berhalter could play an important role after he made his World Cup debut by replacing Pulisic for the second half against Paraguay.

"It's going to be a physical game, but a fun game, and we're excited," Berhalter said.

"(The Socceroos) are going to fight. We like teams that have that brotherhood, you know? We like teams that you can see they're hungry, they want to fight."

ABC Sport will be live blogging all the action from Australia's clash with the US on Saturday morning. Join the team at abc.net.au/news/sport