American soccer great Landon Donovan has taken aim at “smug” Socceroos coach Tony Popovic for his reaction to last week’s World Cup draw announcement.
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Australia plays the USA along with Paraguay and a European play-off qualifier in Group D, with Popovic telling reporters afterwards that he was “satisfied” with the Socceroos’ group.
“I am sure the boys are looking at the draw and can’t wait to get over there,” he added.
That, however, did not go down well with Donovan.
“I watched the Aussie coach’s interview after the draw and it was really interesting,” Donovan said on the FOX Soccer podcast alongside former U.S. internationals Cobi Jones and Brad Guzan.
“It was unique. Because most coaches say all the same stuff you’re expecting like, ‘Oh, it’s a difficult draw, this is going to be so hard — and his first comment was: ‘we’re satisfied’.
“And I was like: ‘Really? Are you?’
“And he just had this smugness about him and I’m like, ‘Alright, I can’t wait. I wish I was on the field — like, I wanna play these guys.’
“They’re a solid team, they’re hard to play against, this is not going to be some blowout, whatever, but it’s a team I think we should beat.”
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Donovan, Jones and Guzan all tipped the US to breeze through to the knockout stages, with Donovan digging the boot in as he predicted the Socceroos would finish last in the group.
“Thanks for coming, Aussies and your smug coach — you can get back on the Qantas airplane and head back home, pal,” he said.