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“Are you watching, America?”: Australia's 'two fingers up' to silence doubters
Jaiden Sciberras • June 14th, 2026 6:36 pm
Australia’s incredible 2-0 win over Turkiye stunned the world, claiming victory against all odds in their FIFA World Cup 2026™ opener.
Leading into the World Cup, Australia were given no hope, frequently dubbed as the most likely to bottom out in the group, with USA, Turkiye and Paraguay making up a heavily contested Group D.
However, opening the tournament against the group favourites, Australia were superb, withstanding Turkiye’s relentless attacks and countering brilliantly to win 2-0.
Simon Hill believes this performance was the perfect representation of Australia as a nation – never count us out.
“I’ve heard a lot of trash talk from not just the Turks, but the Americans as well,” Hill told SEN’s live call of the Socceroos’ win.
“I don’t know about Paraguay because I don’t speak Spanish, but maybe they’ve joined in as well.
“Australians are at their most dangerous when you write them off and say that they can’t play or that they are rubbish.
“I don’t think they did their homework. You only had to listen to the pre-game interviews; ‘They’re strong on set-pieces, they are physical, we’re going to dominate, we’ve got quality’.
“You know what? Maybe one or two of the latter points are right. Individually, they’ve got better players.
“But as a team performance, that tonight is going to take some topping by any team.
“Australia were trashed by the world’s press, and they’ve stuck two fingers up to them this evening.
“Are you watching America? Are you watching, America? We are coming for you!”
Australia next face hosts USA, who have been very smug in their confidence of beating the Socceroos.
Expert Andy Harper believes that while the US were very good in their opener, downing Paraguay 4-1, the Socceroos won’t be an easy task.
“There’ll be no ducks and drakes,” Harper told SEN.
“It’ll depend on how the players recover. This is what we are about. If you are good enough to beat us, beat us.
“The first half for America against Paraguay was fabulous. That was a really excellent first half.
“I was watching that thinking, ‘oh my goodness, this is going to be difficult in Seattle’. They weren’t as good in the second half.
“Paraguay, defensively, when you look at the way the goals were scored, were very, very poor. Australia won’t be that against the US. We will play the way we play.
“We’ve got to hold the ball better on occasion, and then the young fellas up front, do your business. They are an even money chance.
“They need a point out of the last two games to go through. Realistically, four points - if you get a draw out of one of the last two matches - has to put you in one of the best third place positions to get through to the knockout Round of 32.
“They’ve done an amazing job for themselves tonight. It’s been a long camp in preparation, a lot of talk about that as well.
“But, honest to God, they were bloody fantastic today, and Tony Popovic, we dip our lid, you’ve done a great job.”
The Socceroos take on the USA in Seattle next Saturday at 5am AEST.
Catch all the Socceroos action on SEN, Australia's official radio broadcaster of the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
