The Weekly Dis
The USMNT romps over Australia, and Budd Dairy gets Disrespected, live
The U.S. Men's National Team soundly defeated Australia 2-0 in their second group-stage game Friday afternoon in Seattle. Combined with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay last week, the Americans have taken command of Group D and, with one game remaining in the group stage, basically punched their ticket to the knockout rounds.
Against Australia – known for its airtight, low-block defense and counter-striking ability – the Americans imposed their will with frenetic pressure and an unflagging effort to break down the Aussie defense. Oh, the chaos the U.S. created. Much like against Paraguay, they took a multi-goal lead into halftime and managed the game well in the second half. It was another impressive performance for coach Mauricio Pochettino and his crew.
For the first time since 1930, the U.S. has won two consecutive games at a World Cup. How about that.
Here's the report filed by Disrespected Media's Technical Director, Patrick Arace:
The sea of groans upon the confirmed absence of Christian Pulisic against Australia reached a cacophony ahead of the USMNT's Gameday 2 match. The fears, as it turned out, were unwarranted as the Yanks coasted to a decisive, 2-0 victory over the Socceroos, a side that was hot off a victory of their own against group favorites Türkiye.
Your humble reporter was somewhat surprised to see Ricardo Pepi in over Giovanni Reyna to replace the unfit Pulisic in the Americans' forward line. Nominally, the U.S. team would be lining up with No. 9s, and would need to somehow find a balance. Would it spring from Folarin Balogun dropping into midfield to hold up the ball, or would Pepe fill the channels instead?
Arguably, this was a choice in tempos. Balogun dropping clogs up the game and slows it, whereas Pepi drifting wide leaves Balogun on the last shoulder as he was during the 4-1 rout in the first group-stage match vs. Paraguay.
Australia play with three center-backs and a No. 6. This setup is more vulnerable to being pressed than a back two with a No. 6 – you lose the No. 6 as the primary press resistance pressure valve in favor of an extra defender to mark the last man in the box. The problem is, stuck in a low block due to this lineup change, Australia had no recourse after conceding an early goal. Game, set.
A great day for soccer at Budd Dairy Food Hall
Thanks for coming
Hundreds of fans gathered at Columbus Commons to watch the USMNT-Australia game Friday afternoon. I hope they had enough sunscreen and Porta Potties.
Not among them were the hundred-plus hardcores who opted for 10 kitchens, three bars and indoor plumbing at Budd Dairy Food Hall on N. 4th St. There, intelligent sickos gathered for a Disrespected Media Event – a pre-game, live-streamed episode of The Crewcible featuring two Crew legends, Frankie Hejduk and Duncan Oughton, followed by a watch party for Yanks-Soccerooos. It was a rousing success.
We raffled off some exquisite, U.S.-themed merch from Supporter Supply Co. and Mrs. Arace did her impersonation of a T-Shirt cannon.
Al Werner
I was sandwiched between two Columbus Crew legends, Frankie Hejduk and Duncan Oughton, for a live stream of The Crewcible podcast before the game. It was gloriously brutal. Frankie was part of three USMNT World Cup teams; Duncan played for the New Zealand national team for more than a decade.
Kevin and Alex Rouch of CBusSports.com covered production engineering for the podcast. Check out Kevin's website, which is hyper-focused on local sports and paywall-free. There, you can find the recording of our podcast, which I'll soon be sharing on my YouTube channel and, likely, on other platforms where The Crewcible can be found (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.). Kevin and I will be collaborating in the future, so stay tuned.
A shoutout to Morgan Hughes and the gang at SupporterSupply.co, where you can find an array of wearables to celebrate Team USA and the World Cup and a ton of other cool stuff, including The Rooster's official merchandise.
A tip of the hat to the crew at Budd Dairy Food Hall, who were terrific collaborators. I hope they sold as much beer as was served at Columbus Commons. Judging by the atmosphere at Budd, that is entirely within the realm of possibility. It was a big-room MegaTailgate.
Thanks mostly to the folks who showed up, raised their glasses, jeered the central referee when he went down with a cramp and engaged in the spirit of fraternity and sorority. The conversation was wonderful.
More to come ...
We had 100-plus supporters of local, independent, Disrespected media show up at Budd Dairy Friday. Look, there's Jody Shelley!
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Michael Arace
