Australia star admits he’s ‘never wanted to win more’ ahead of USMNT game
· Yahoo Sports
Having both won their opening FIFA World Cup games, with the U.S. Men’s National Team defeating Paraguay 4-1 and Australia taking down Türkiye 2-0, it is now time for the two Group D leaders to face one another.
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The two teams will battle it out for three points - which would secure them a spot in the Round of 32 - on Friday at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, from 3pm ET.
Tensions are high between these two teams heading into the game, thanks to a months-long verbal battle between USMNT legends, including Landon Donovan and Alexi Lalas, and Socceroos head coach Tony Popovic.
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This rivalry then took a fresh turn on Wednesday, when Australia and New York City FC defender Kai Trewin admitted just how much a win over the USMNT and NYFC goalkeeper Matt Freese, would mean to him.
“No, I have never wanted to win a game more than this one, I can tell you that for free,” he said.
“But to be honest, they give [Freese] a little bit more stick than I'd say they give [Australia and NYFC teammate Aiden O'Neill] and I training, because obviously there's a lot of South American boys and I think they'd prefer Australia to know maybe, they call it an upset, beat the U.S. and they try and give him a bit of stick about it too, but he doesn't really budge too much.
“He's pretty locked into what he does. So, but yeah, like I said before, I've never wanted to win a game more than I've wanted to win this game against the U.S. for sure.”
Trewin may be keen to beat his MLS teammate, but that isn’t to say there is any animosity between the two. In fact, the situation seems quite the opposite, with the 25-year-old saying, “We haven't actually spoken since we've come into camp, but I spoke to him the day that we left and just wished him the best.
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“Obviously, there's lots of pressure for him and for the U.S., obviously playing on home soil, so I just wished him the best. And I see how hard he works every day in training and in game. So yeah, obviously, like I said before, I hope we get a positive result against them, but for the rest of the tournament, I wish him the best.”
As for the game itself, Trewin expects a stern test from Mauricio Pochettino’s side, although he and the rest of the Socceroos are keen to keep their positive momentum going following their impressive opening win.
“Obviously, we've started so well now, and we spoke about pushing on and continuing,” he said. “We want to obviously do better than we've ever done before at a World Cup, and that'll mean getting another result against the U.S. and pushing through the group stage.
“But I think there was lots of positives from the Türkiye game and just improving on them and yeah, like I said, trying to get a positive result again.”