SEATTLE (AP) 鈥� Cristian Roldan is familiar with how loud Lumen Field can get.
The U.S. midfielder has played for the Seattle Sounders since 2015, getting plenty of love from fans in this soccer-crazed Pacific Northwest city.
With the Americans coming off a over Paraguay in their opener in Southern California, Roldan is expecting a charged atmosphere on Friday when the Americans face Australia at the home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
鈥淚 fully expect this crowd to be extremely loud. And, they鈥檙e going to energize our group,鈥� Roldan said. 鈥淭his is one of the loudest stadiums in the world when you think about Seahawks games or Sounders games.
鈥淛ust seeing the Belgium game against Egypt and how the atmosphere was there, I fully expect the city of Seattle to come out and show out, and I think the guys are going to feel that type of energy.鈥�
The Americans want to reward their supporters and justify the that is building around the team.
鈥淲hat excites me is that the entire world, the entire nation is behind us,鈥� Roldan said. 鈥淚 think that they enjoyed watching us play, and at the end of the day what we want to do is inspire and motivate the next generation. … We have to build off it, and that鈥檚 the truth. We can鈥檛 just talk about it: We have to show out against Australia.鈥�
The Americans’ excitement is somewhat tempered by concerns about their biggest star. because of his and coach Mauricio Pochettino said his availability was still up in the air as of Thursday night.
The Socceroos also pose a significant challenge. In October, the U.S. earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory against a physical Australia side in a friendly that Pochettino said was anything but.
Pochettino wants his team to match Australia’s intensity.
鈥淚 think we need to play on the edge of the line,鈥� Pochettino said, 鈥渨ith not crossing the lines of the rules.鈥�
Australia center back Harry Souttar anticipates the U.S. will try to start fast, much as it did against Paraguay. Coach Tony Popovic’s scrappy squad opened with
鈥淲e want to earn our respect,鈥� Popovic said. 鈥淲e know that by our performances, we can put Australian football on the world map. And, that鈥檚 what we aim to do. We started off well against Turkey. Now, we want to back it up.鈥�
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