World Cup AS IT HAPPENED: US villain’s parting shot at Socceroos

Thanks for being with us through the morning.

Tomorrow there’ll be two games at the World Cup.

3am AEST - Canada v Morocco

7am AEST - Paraguay v France

Take it easy. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Mike Grella couldn’t help himself.

The US football analyst had plenty to say in the lead up to and after the Socceroos clash with Team USA.

And now that the Socceroos are officially out of the World Cup - Grella laid the boot in on CBS.

“I love football, I love watching the World Cup in particular, but in football and in life you can talk,” Grella said.

“You can say, ‘I wanna do this, and I wanna do that’.

“But in the end, the whistle blows, you go on the scale, and everything you did weighs and they say, ’What’s your worth?

“For Australia, I understand they have an unbelievable spirit. They love to play sport. I understand they have pride when they talk about their football team, The Socceroos.

“But in the end, you have to show what you’ve been working on.

“Where are the players? Where’s the skill? Where’s the quality?

“You don’t have it.”

Grella then drew comparisons with the Socceroos and his career, which was mainly played in the lower divisions in England.

“I wanted to play in the Premier League,” he said.

“I wanted to play in the Champions League.

“But I never did.

“Same with Australia. They wanted to accomplish something in the World Cup, but with the emotions, and in their own head.

“In reality, when the whistle blows and the game starts, you have to be able to go with the football.

“They’re nowhere near good enough with the football.

Did they fight? Yes.

“Did they do their country proud? One hundred per cent.

“Should the country be proud of what they did? For sure.

“Did they fight to the end? For sure.

“But in the end, you need to be able to know how to play with the football. There’s levels to it, and they don’t have the high level to it with the football.

“End of story.”

Circling back to the Socceroos. Coach Tony Popovic addressed the officiating in Dallas during his media conference among other things including questionable decisions made in the lead up to the shootout.

He was asked for his reaction to the no-foul call after Socceroos defender Jordy Bos was brought down by Egypt’s Ramy Rabia in a tough challenge.

“Not a very good challenge. Unfortunately, it wasn’t even a yellow card.I think those things keep going against Australia.

“Until we can change that by getting to a certain level in these major competitions, I think, once we’re respected as a nation that belongs with the elite and the very best, some of those things you see will go our way.”

Pressed on the controversial refereeing, Popovic added: “Unfortunately, until you achieve certain things, the respect is always less.

“Australia is that country that’s trying to play football and all our opponents that we’ve played so far are elite at football.

“The perception is that way.

“The only way we can change that is by competing with the elite, more often in major tournaments.

“By our performances, that should already take a major step, but we’ll have to keep doing that to gain the necessary respect, whether that’s in this room, whether that’s people in general, whether that’s officials, whether that’s opponents.

“It could be a range of different areas, and we’re on a path to achieving that and knowing that we will have to earn that.”

The South Americans got home without finding the back of the net in the second half.

That’s three straight clean sheets for Colombia at the World Cup which is the first in the nation’s history.

One would think the pronunciation of “Socceroos” is pretty straightforward but clearly it’s not.

One BBC presenter found out the hard way when delivering her report of Australia’s loss to Egypt on penalties on Saturday morning.

The clip has been doing the rounds among Aussie football fans and it’s not difficult to see why there’s been some reaction to it.

Check it out for yourself.

Colombia looked certain to have doubled their lead but the flag went up.

Luis Díaz thought he found the back of the net, but the celebrations were cut short as the assistant referee jumped in.

Replays confirmed the forward had drifted offside, and the goal was disallowed.

It should be all square.

Ghana’s Antione Semenya sent a bullet of a pass across the face of goal. But nobody at the far post.

It was a nice sequence of play down the left flank.

The African team has dominated possession so far, with Colombia sitting behind the ball.

A change at halftime for Colombia.

Richard Ríos replaces James Rodríguez, adding fresh legs to Colombia’s midfield.

Ghana have come out more aggressive in the second as they search for the equaliser.

Colombia heads into the main break with a one-goal advantage but it could’ve been more.

Late in the first, Johan Mojica’s header from a cross almost beat goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi but the gloveman saved the day to keep Ghana in the contest.

Luis Díaz almost scored in the 39th minute, after his shot from the middle of the box sailed wide of the left post.

Colombia clearly the more dominant team at this stage.

Let’s see what Ghana can do in the second half.

Colombia gets on the board first in Kansas City. 

Luis Díaz delivered a perfect ball for Jhon Arias, before he finished with a right-footed shot from inside the box to give the South Americans the early lead.

Arias was the first player booked in the match moments earlier, after a dangerous tackle on Iñaki Williams.