Bring back the biff: What Popovic ‘can’t fathom’ about the modern Socceroos

2 days ago 6

Amid Australian soccer’s long pursuit of technical excellence and tactical sophistication, Tony Popovic believes the Socceroos lost a piece of themselves along the way.

Belatedly, it has been found again - and if he can successfully fuse the old to the new, a “special” World Cup awaits, he says.

One of the most notable takeaways from Australia’s 2-1 friendly defeat to the United States earlier this month was the return of the physical aggression that was once a national hallmark - but, to Popovic’s disappointment, has fallen away in recent years.

Scroll to the bottom for a full transcript of Tony Popovic’s hour-long interview this week.

The Americans came into the match promising a similar uncompromising approach. “We kind of have to become hard asses. Excuse my French, but f--- a friendly,” defender Chris Richards told US-based media. “You gotta go out there and do what you need to do.”

After 90 minutes of flying tackles and bone-rattling duels against the Socceroos, he was singing a different tune.

“They’re lucky it was a friendly,” Richards said.

Popovic always played with a hard edge himself. He dismisses any notion that the Socceroos went too far against the USA, or went into tackles trying to hurt the opposition, as some of the American fans (and media) alleged; they simply “surprised” the 2026 World Cup co-hosts, who just “didn’t like the physicality” they played with.

If anything, he’s disappointed it took these Socceroos so long to show that side of themselves.

Despite wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia in World Cup qualification, and in the two-match Soccer Ashes series against New Zealand, Popovic came away a little disappointed, feeling that they were missing what he described as a quintessentially Australian characteristic.

Christian Pulisic was injured against the Socceroos.

“We actually lacked what we’ve always had as a nation in football, and even in all codes: that we are tough, we are resilient, we are hard to beat, we are hard to play against,” he said.

“We’ve tried to develop football, to play better football. But we can’t forget what makes us, what’s our DNA. And I think we’ve gone away from that. I thought the first game against New Zealand, to an extent, we almost got bullied in the game. And I can’t fathom that, how that can happen with Australians.”

Which is not to say that Popovic wants them to play recklessly, but that a more hard-nosed approach can actually enhance those other, newer qualities.

“We’re here to win, and we shouldn’t forget that side of us,” he said.

“You can see through the whole country, from grassroots all the way through, we’re trying to develop a better style of play - but we can’t forget that. Because if you look at all the best teams in the world, when they lose a game, the coach will come out and say: ‘We didn’t win our duels, we didn’t win our second balls, so we couldn’t maintain momentum, or we couldn’t maintain the pressure. We’re too soft.’

“Really, it should be expected that we do that. So from now on, I expect to see that.”

More than a year on from assuming the role, Popovic has settled into it beautifully.

As he held court in an hour-long press conference this week, there was no evasiveness and no defensiveness. He answered every question directly and expansively, covering off a range of topics: himself, the mistakes he’s made, Australia’s broader talent pool and their connection with mainstream audiences, his ambitions for the team and belief in it, what he wants to see from younger players, the structural factors in the domestic game that are holding them back, and his definition of leadership.

If they want to play at a World Cup ... their level needs to be the highest they’ve ever had. Any shorter than that will leave you out.

Tony Popovic

OK, maybe there was a bit of evasiveness when he was asked about his future, since his contract expires at the end of the World Cup - but even as he predictably described it as a bridge he’d cross when he comes to it, he also explained he felt it was his “duty” to plan as if he would be there beyond that, to prepare for the 2027 Asian Cup and the next World Cup cycle. And you could tell how seriously he takes that duty.

In his embrace of the pressure of the role, the gravitas with which he carries himself, and the magnitude of his vision, Popovic is Postecoglou-esque.

“It’s not a burden for me,” Popovic said.

“I don’t carry extra weight because I’m the Socceroos coach. I carry joy, and it’s a pleasure, and there’s nothing difficult about it for me. There are challenges, but there are challenges in every job.

“I love this job. I’m honoured. I love the responsibility.”

On the matter of his World Cup squad and the jostling for positions in it, Popovic is keeping an open mind, staying alive to the possibility that someone could come from the clouds and unseat an established star.

Whoever makes the cut will know exactly what is expected of them: everything.

“The key is that if they want to play at a World Cup, they have to understand that their level needs to be the highest they’ve ever had,” he said. “Any shorter than that will leave you out of the World Cup.”

His dream, he said, was for the Socceroos to be consistently mixing it with the world’s best. To no longer be considered underdogs.

And he doesn’t want to wait until he’s an old man sitting on his couch to see it.

“I keep saying it to the group: one day, Australia will go very far in the World Cup. Why not this group?” Popovic said.

“Why do we have to wait two or three World Cups when I’m sitting back watching and applauding something special from the Socceroos? Why should we have limits? Why not do it now? And we want to give ourselves every chance of doing that.

“Maybe we can go further than we ever have before … I know it will happen one day, because our football is growing within Australia, and also the Australians are growing outside, and there will be names that we’ll remember for a very long time. There’s some really talented young players coming through, and I hope this group can feel the responsibility, and feel the expectation and the belief that we can go out there, and maybe be the ones that do something truly special.”