SEATTLE, June 18 : Australia beat Turkey with a perfectly executed game plan in their World Cup opener but will need to find another level to get a result against confident co-hosts the United States, coach Tony Popovic said on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia began their campaign with a superb 2-0 win over Turkey, sitting deep and springing on the counter to devastating effect to give themselves a great chance of reaching the knockout stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the U.S. are also coming into the match on a high after dismantling Paraguay 4-1, though the fitness of their influential winger Christian Pulisic is a concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Popovic said his side should embrace the challenge of facing the U.S. in their backyard, but was under no illusions about the difficulty of their task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We know it will be a different type of challenge,” he told reporters. “Playing the host nation here as well is a wonderful challenge, but also a wonderful opportunity for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We know that we will need to be better than we were against Turkey to get the result we want.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that Australia were confident they could cause the U.S. some problems and wanted his team to keep playing as if they belong on the big stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We want to earn our respect,” Popovic said. “We know that by our performances we can put Australian football on the world map and that’s what we aim to do.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A win for either side will ensure a place in the last-32, but defender Harry Souttar \u2013 who captained Australia against Turkey with goalkeeper Mat Ryan on the bench \u2013 refused to look beyond Friday’s game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We’re not thinking ahead at all,” he said. “It’s literally just about the game tomorrow and how we approach it, how we start the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The lads are excited, but it’s a fine balance between using that excitement and also being calm and composed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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