SEATTLE (AP) — Cristian Roldan knows all too well how loud Lumen Field can get.
The American midfielder has been playing for the Seattle Sounders since 2015 and has earned a lot of love from fans in this soccer-crazy Pacific Northwest city.
As the Americans withdrew, 4-1 victory over paraguay world cup In the opening game in Southern California, Roldan expects a tense atmosphere Friday between the United States and Australia at the home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
“We fully expect this crowd to be very loud, and they will energize our group,” Roldan said. “If you think about Seahawks games or Sounders games, this is one of the loudest stadiums in the world.
“After watching the Belgium-Egypt game and the atmosphere, I fully expect the city of Seattle to come out strong. The players will feel that energy.”
Americans want to reward their supporters and legitimize their cause. wave of momentum It’s built around teams.
“What excites me is that the whole world, the whole nation is behind us,” Roldan said. “I think they enjoyed watching us play. At the end of the day, what we want to do is inspire and motivate the next generation. … We have to build on that. That’s the truth. You can’t just talk about it. We have to get results against Australia.”
Americans’ excitement is tempered somewhat by concerns about their biggest stars. Christian Pulisic trained separately from his teammates for the fourth day in a row on Thursday. Because of him left calf injury, And manager Mauricio Pochettino said his availability was still undetermined as of Thursday night.
The Socceroos also have big challenges. In October, the United States won a hard-fought 2-1 win against a physically strong Australian team in a friendly, but Pochettino said, “It wasn’t like that.”
Pochettino hopes his team can match Australia’s intensity.
Pochettino said, “I think we need to play right on the edge of the line so we don’t cross the line.”
Australian centre-back Harry Souter expects the USA to try to get off to a fast start similar to the one against Paraguay. Coach Tony Popovich’s fractious team started like this. They won 2-0 against Türkiye on Saturday.
“We want to earn respect,” Popovich said. “We know that with our performance we can put Australian football on the world map and that’s what we’re aiming for. We got off to a good start against Turkey and now we want to build on that.”
___
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
