USMNT must follow Bill Parcells cheese advice with feisty Australia up next in World Cup

IRVINE, Calif.— The soccer world has suddenly been telling the U.S.

National Team how good they are, how impressive they looked in their World Cup opener.They can’t listen.Or they’ll flush all the good work of that 4-1 win over Paraguay down the toilet.Bill Parcells used to liken praise to cheese in a rat trap, and warned his players “don’t eat the cheese.” Team USA needs to heed that Hall of Fame advice.They’ve earned the top spot in Group D with their resounding opening victory.

But they would give it away if overconfidence leads to defeat Friday against Australia, if they get stunned in Seattle.That’s the exact immature mistake that Turkey made against these Aussies, and it cost them in a 2-0 loss in Vancouver.The U.S.

has the advantage of having seen that result and needs to learn from Turkey’s example.“I saw a well-executed game plan from Australia,” said U.S.striker Haji Wright.

“They’re tough to break down, and they’re dangerous on counterattacks.They have good players at the top of the pitch, and they were able to be effective and damage [Turkey].“Yeah, [Turkey] came into the game a bit overconfident, and we won’t make that same mistake.

I think we know every team in the tournament is a good team and they deserve to be here.So we’re ready for that.”They’d better be.Wright — a former New York Cosmos forward now with Coventry City — knows Australia well, scoring a brace against the Socceroos last Oct.

14.He and the U.S.

are well aware of how feisty and physical Australia is — or at least, they should be, after needing to come from behind for that 2-1 win.“Yeah, it was definitely competitive,” Wright said.“I remember us going into that game and they were laying in tough challenges, and then we had to match the intensity.

I remember going to halftime the coach wasn’t too happy with letting them punch us in a way without punching back.So, yeah, going into this game, we’ll be able to prepare a bit more...