Simon Hill - World Cup Update | Iconic football caller for SEN (23.06.26)
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What were the highlights from the Socceroos vs USA match?
At 10 o'clock on Tuesdays, we've dedicated to the Trek Around the World Cup. We're following Simon Hill, who took us through an agonising 90 minutes on Saturday.
Now the Americans are way down the left. They've got a big chance here. Oh, it's a no-go. America take the lead. It's Cameron Burgess, the unlucky defender, who got the final touch. The cross had pace on it and there was nothing else that Burgess could do but turn the ball into his own net. Here's the free kick. Robinson back to the top of the box and it's fired in with pace.
How did Simon Hill react to the disappointing performance of the Socceroos?
It spoons up in the air. I think we can all agree that sucked.
That was Seattle. We're bound for Santa Clara next. Simon Hill. Simon, welcome back to the program. How are you, Gerard? You all right? Not too bad. It was just so galling that the Americans who had been insufferable, to be honest, ended up sort of being vaguely right. God, that was awful.
Yeah, it wasn't pretty, was it? And I can tell you, walking out the stadium, we copped a bit as well, which was hard to hold your tongue. But anyway, they deserved to win, the Americans. And I know some people are annoyed about the refereeing. And I'm sure we'll talk about Tony Popovich's tactics and selections. But I think at the end of the day, you've just got to hold your hands up and say, on the day, Australia wasn't good enough. Better in the second half, but even then, didn't really put the goalkeeper under sustained pressure. And, you know, sometimes you've got to tip your hat to the opposition and say, look, you were better on the day. But the good thing about the Turkey result, of course, is that Australia is still in with a very, very good chance of getting to the knockout stage.
So in many ways, you know, that game against the Americans was almost, almost, I stress, a free hit. Yes. Because, you know, game three was alive anyway. So now it's on to Paraguay and Santa Clara, as you say. You're making us feel better already.
Where do we find you today? What have you been doing since the game?
We flew back from Seattle to Los Angeles. So we've been in Los Angeles again for a couple of days. Tomorrow we get on a seven-hour bus ride, which, as you can tell, I'm hugely looking forward to, to go to San Francisco, which is... obviously in the same metropolitan area as the stadium in Santa Clara. So, yeah, long day tomorrow. And I'm not going to be able to see the England game, which is annoying for me because I missed the last one because we were on the bus as well. But anyway, that's the way it goes during a World Cup.
All right. What's the washout been for Australia? And yes, we should – I've said this right from the outset. When the country plays in a World Cup, it should be a national debate. We should revel in it. We should – engage in the debate and criticise and that's the whole point of being there. What's the wash-up been to the Popovich tactics?
Well, I think obviously it's been largely driven from conversations back home. Some ex-socceroos have had their opinions and I think they're entitled to them, as you say, when you play the World Cup and you lose a game, particularly I think as timidly as we did in the first half, Dan, there are bound to be questions asked. If you want my opinion, and it is only this, and I'm only an observer and a commentator, but I thought he got his team selection wrong. I don't think I'm the only person who thought that. I wonder in a quiet moment whether Tony Popovich might even admit that. But he also has the benefits, as they've said, within the camp of seeing the players day in, day out. You know, who's got the right loading and who needs a bit of a spell, whether he's saving players for later on in the tournament or the third game.
I don't know. But I think if you're going to play in the sort of defensive structure that Australia do, and that's perfectly understandable why they play that way. You know, we don't have the best players in the world. Let's be honest about that. then you've got to have an out ball. And unfortunately, against the Americans, first half at least, we didn't.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What were the highlights from the Socceroos vs USA match?
0:00–0:35
2
How did Simon Hill react to the disappointing performance of the Socceroos?
0:35–6:09
3
What are the implications of the Socceroos' tactics and selections?
6:09–7:27
4
What does Simon Hill think about Australia's chances of reaching the knockout stage?
7:27–13:26
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Whateley
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