United States defeat Australia, Mike Grella reaction, Socceroos news, video, highlights

Mike Grella gets the last laugh.

The American pundit became public enemy No. 1 in Australia ahead of the Socceroo’s World Cup match against the United States, predicting the contest would be a “lay-up” for the tournament co-hosts.

And after copping backlash from the Socceroos, he doubled down on his criticism last week, calling the Australian team “inferior”.

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But after the United States cruised towards a 2-0 victory over the Socceroos in Seattle on Saturday morning AEST, Grella couldn’t resist basking in the American triumph.

“This is the United States of America over here,” he said on CBS Sports.

“This is a special place with big characters, with big personality, this is a place that demands respect.

“Everybody wants to compete, everybody wants to believe, but in the end, the football spoke. 2-0, thank you very much.

“Goodbye, see you, 9400 miles, you can think about the game today.”

Grella also poked fun at Nestory Irankunda’s Michael Jackson celebration.

Asked if he wanted an apology from Australians, Grella responded: “It’s all love, it’s all football.

“At the end of the day, we knew what the game was going to be. The math spoke for itself.

“There can be upsets, that’s why we watch sports, that’s why we love sports … but our competition’s not Australia anymore. Our competition is the bigger boys.”

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Grella got nasty with an analogy for the USA v Australia clash, comparing the Socceroos to a “little puppy” that had been swept aside.

“It’s like you’re in this dark alley, you hear this barking and you’re like, ‘Uh oh, I’m in trouble, I don’t know where I am’.

“And you turn the corner and think you’re in danger ... and you see this little puppy there, this little puppy, so small, like this big (gesturing below his knee). And he’s got a little Australian jersey on and making all this noise. And you just go to him (gesturing a swipe), ‘Shoo shoo’.

“That’s where they’ve gotta go now. They’ve gotta go play and win another game to get into the knockout stage.”

However, Grella also acknowledged there was room for improvement for the Americans.

“Australia was never the conversation. The conversation was can we do something special in this tournament,” he continued.

“The second half worried me a little bit, to be honest with you.

“All the chances Australia had were our own doing. That’s got to be fixed, because if you come up against France, Spain, Germany, anyone that has a little bit of know-how in those moments, we can’t play the second half like that, because I don’t think that’s going to get us over the line.

“We’ve got to show a higher level.

“If we get those moments right, then I think we can do something deep.”

Australia’s final group-stage match, against Paraguay in Santa Clara, gets underway on Friday at 12pm AEST.

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