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American football presenter Mike Grella has doubled down on his criticism of Australia ahead of the FIFA World Cup, declaring that the United States should “stay home” if they don’t cruise past the Socceroos during the group stage.
Australia will face the co-hosts in Seattle on June 20 AEST, joined by Paraguay and Turkey in Group D.
Speaking in March, Grella declared that taking on Australia would be a “layup” for the United States, who defeated the Socceroos 2-1 in Denver last year.
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“Take nothing away from the Socceroos, they’ve always been competitive,” Grella said on CBS Sport at the time.
“But they stumbled a little during qualifying and weren’t that impressive. This is an amazing first team to have for the US.”
Questioned about the comments on Saturday, Grella explained his rationale on a panel alongside former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
“You guys probably thought we were the easiest pot in the group, and we thought you were the easiest,” he said.
“We’re probably both the weakest teams.”
Schwarzer responded: “Host nations are always difficult to play against at any World Cup, so we always knew the USA was going to be a tough, tough opponent.
“What we like to do is let our performances do the talking.
“We all know it’s a tough, tough group.”
However, Grella couldn’t resist offering one final jab ahead of next month’s World Cup clash.
“If we cant beat them, we shouldn’t go to the World Cup,” he said.
“If USA can’t beat Australia in a football match, stay home.”
Tuchel leaves out big names for WC squad | 00:54
The tournament features 48 teams; FIFA’s biggest ever World Cup. The top two teams from each of the 12 groups and eight third-placed teams go through to the round of 32.
Australia’s final World Cup squad is due to be submitted on June 1 (AEST).
