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This week’s newsletter spends a day with the Italy midfielder as she continues to battle her way back to a peak physical condition“It was accepting that I couldn’t play football because it was my life. It was everything that I knew.” For Everton’s Aurora Galli, the past 20 months have been anything but straightforward. Her return from a serious knee injury has been difficult, one beset with obstacles before, ultimately, a long-awaited comeback.It was September 2024, 83 minutes and three seconds into the first game of the Women’s Super League season to be exact, when Galli went down in agony. Everton were losing 4-0 to Brighton and, in her eagerness to salvage something for her team, the midfielder attempted to challenge for the ball when her standing leg buckled. As expected, it was confirmed that she had ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament.Sitting at Finch Farm, Everton’s training ground, almost two years on, the rawness of that day clearly lingers. “The night before, I couldn’t sleep very well but I dreamt about my ACL,” she remembers. “I discovered that my sister also had a feeling that something would happen. During the game, I was not thinking about it. But the feeling of the knee that went down, it was like I broke my leg completely. I remember screaming and the doctor was like: ‘Do you want oxygen?’ I said: ‘No. I’m going to walk out of the pitch alone. I don’t want anything,’ because I’m very stubborn … I remember every single thing from that day. I don’t know why.”The reality soon hit. Galli is a vivacious character but even with her natural exuberance the severity of her injury was difficult to process. “The first day, I was not myself,” she says ruefully. “I’m not a crying person but I was crying so much when everyone couldn’t see me. Football was why I wake up in the morning. All the frustration that you have, I couldn’t just put it away because I didn’t have football. Then you feel your body and your head are not working. It’s really hard.”The 29-year-old continues: “It’s very mental. Every single step that you do on the pitch, it’s like: ‘Is there any problem?’ Or even if someone just goes down, I feel so worried. You don’t want to think about it but it’s just something that will never go away.”For Galli, the motivation to return was immediate, with far more than a lost domestic campaign at stake. Italy had cruised through qualifying to book their place at the 2025 European Championship and the idea of missing out was not one she could countenance.“I had a Euros to go to,” she states. “I was like: ‘In six months, I need to be back playing.’ I think it was actually like seven and a half. I pushed it. I had so many meetings with the physio and doctors to explain my point of view … if I have a goal, I will arrive there no matter what.”Under the guidance of medical staff, she pushed her recovery and, despite one small setback, made her return on the final day of the 2024-25 season. It was just a four-minute cameo against Tottenham but it was enough to bring her back into the national team conversation. Ultimately, she was not named in Andrea Soncin’s final squad but was there with the group as they reached a historic semi-final.“I was not in the team but I was part of it, so it was half of the goal,” she says. “I’m very proud of them because they did amazing things. It was nice to be back after such a long time, to see my friends and just enjoy football again.”In hindsight, however, she had “pushed [her recovery] maybe a little bit too much”. When she returned to Liverpool for pre-season, the cartilage in her knee swelled to the point where she was unable to complete sessions and she was forced to sit things out until January, eventually making a comeback against Manchester City.“It was a balance I couldn’t handle and the staff had to stop me,” she points to her knee with a smile. “That is what I learned for the second time [needing to take care of her body] because maybe the first was not enough. It gave me more awareness of my body; how I feel it and how it answers me.”Her return coincided with Everton’s upturn in form after an inauspicious start. After the dismissal of Brian Sørensen in February, the team secured an eighth-place finish under their interim manager, Scott Phelan, with Galli making five starts as she built up her minutes.For the Italian, Everton have become a family, a home away from home for the past five years. She joined the club at 24, becoming the first Italian to play in the WSL, and quickly became a mainstay of the group. A hard-working, technical and versatile central midfielder, her intense drive to succeed is partnered with her infectious nature, helping her to lead by example.“I know how to help people to just push them to be the best version of themselves,” she says. “If that means being a leader, yeah. If it’s not, I’m not. I’m just really focusing on what I’m doing because I love it. And if the people that are around me love it like I do, we can work together; otherwise, we can fight with each other and see who wins.”A timely summer break awaits, one that involves Swedish mid-summer, attending a friend’s wedding and a much-needed holiday with her partner, Chelsea’s Nathalie Björn. With a World Cup on the horizon, the goals are clear and it is a further opportunity to rediscover her best within the new parameters that her body will allow.“I would say that I still don’t feel myself and I don’t think that I will feel it again like before,” she admits. “I think that an injury, especially the ACL, changes your body. It changes the way you are thinking so it’s more [about] growing and accepting the change.”If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email moving.goalposts@theguardian.com.This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts will be sent out once a week, on Wednesdays, in the close season but will be back on Tuesdays and Thursdays from September.

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Danny Rohl has left Rangers after just eight months in charge to become Red Bull Salzburg's head coach - with the club saying news of his replacement "will follow in due course".Hearts head coach Derek McInnes is widely expected to be the German's successor as Rangers ready themselves to appoint a third boss in 12 months.Rohl, 37, replaced Russell Martin in October and steered Rangers into a three-way title fight, but a post-split collapse yielded a third-place finish behind Celtic and Hearts as the Ibrox club ended the campaign without silverware.Chairman Andrew Cavenagh publicly backed Rohl at the end of the season, but the German now returns to the Red Bull stable, having begun his coaching career at Leipzig under Ralph Hasenhuttl."I'd like to thank Danny for his service and commitment to Rangers," Cavenagh said."He and his staff put in a significant amount of hard work during his time in charge, which we are greatly appreciative of."We wish them the best of luck moving forward."Rohl, who had two years left on his deal, departs to take over a Salzburg side that came third in Austria last season - the club's lowest finish in two decades - and will enter the Europa League at the third qualifying round, the same stage as Rangers.Daniel Beichler was sacked as Salzburg boss last month after just 14 games.Rohl joined Hasenhuttl at Southampton in 2018, then moved to Bayern Munich as assistant to Hansi Flick and helped the club win the Bundesliga. He was then appointed Sheffield Wednesday manager in 2023.Would Hearts' McInnes be 'perfect fit' for Rangers?I wonder if Rohl was ever really happy at Rangers. He never gave the impression he was totally at ease with the league.I think the club have done everything to try to put him at ease and they gave him money to spend, but I'm not sure he's ever been a natural fit for Scottish football.For Rangers, McInnes is a no-brainer, an obvious call.He's very experienced, a gnarled pro in Scotland, there's nothing he doesn't know about this league. His worth ethic is through the roof.Rohl's Rangers record across all competitions stands at 22 wins, 11 losses and seven draws in 40 fixtures.Having initially withdrawn from the running to replace Russell Martin, he had a change of heart and took the job after the club were unable to secure Steven Gerrard or Kevin Muscat.The German revived Rangers' fortunes following an abject start to the season, turning the team from mid-table stragglers to title contenders.However, Rangers wilted post-split, as a run of four straight defeats in their final five games wrecked their hopes of a first Premiership crown in five years.Being eliminated from both domestic cups by Old Firm rivals Celtic further heightened fans' frustrations and turned up the pressure on Rohl.However, Cavenagh - whose American consortium took control a year ago - moved to quell speculation over the head coach's future last month amid reported interest from Wolfsburg and vowed Rohl would oversee a "summer of substantial change".Rohl was given funds to bring in four players in January and Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland has already been lured from Hearts as a squad reshape beckoned in his first summer at the helm.However, that will now fall to a new manager, with little time to waste in Rangers' recruitment process as the squad are scheduled to return to training this week.Contact formContact formRelated topicsFootballScottish FootballScottish PremiershipRangersMore on this storyVisit our Rangers page for all the latest news, analysis and fan views

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Heart of Midlothian will face Austrian club Sturm Graz in the second round of Champions League qualifying.The Edinburgh club will be playing in the qualifiers of Europe's top club competition for the first time in 20 years after finishing runners-up in the Scottish Premiership following a final-day defeat by reigning champions Celtic.Sturm Graz also finished second in their domestic league behind LASK.The Austrian club will host the first leg on 21/22 July, with the reverse fixture the following midweek.By that time Hearts will likely be under new management, with head coach Derek McInnes seemingly poised to switch to Rangers and the Edinburgh club expected to choose a replacement within days.The Scottish set-piece guru plotting Portugal's World Cup gloryShould Hearts defeat the Austrians, they will be unseeded and face either Lyon, Bodo/Glimt, Olympiacos or the winner of Fenerbahce against Gornik Zabrze.Had they been drawn against Fenerbahce and defeated the Turks, they would have been seeded for the next round and could have been drawn against Union Saint-Gilloise, the Belgium club who also use Brighton & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom's Jamestown Analytics scouting system following investment by the gambling tycoon.Should Hearts lose to Sturm Graz, they will drop into the Europa League third qualifying round and would be unseeded in the same part of the draw as Rangers, who will be seeded for their first European fixture of the season.Sturm Graz lost 6-2 on aggregate to Bodo/Glimt in the play-off round last season and beat Rangers 2-1 at home and lost by the same score away to Celtic after dropping down to the Europa League and finishing 26th of the 36 teams.Head coach Fabio Ingolitsch had been appointed during the winter break moving from Austrian Bundesliga rivals Rheindorf Altach after Jurgen Saumel exited with his side sitting third in the table.Sturm Graz finished the regular season top by a point, but similar to Hearts, they finished two points behind LASK after the league split into a championship round.In Hearts' last appearance in Champions League qualifying, they defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina's Siroki Brijeg in the second qualifying round before losing to AEK Athens and dropping into the Uefa Cup (now Europa League).

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Chief football writer in DallasPublished39 minutes ago90 CommentsWhen Jude Bellingham uttered the words "who else?" in the direction of England's supporters after saving them from a humiliating exit with a spectacular overhead kick against Slovakia at Euro 2024, no-one even thought to argue.Bellingham's acrobatics – with the clock at Gelsenkirchen reading 94 minutes 34 seconds – became an iconic moment as his stunning equaliser set up a 2-1 win after extra-time in the last 16.England suffered familiar disappointment when losing to Spain in the final in Berlin, but Bellingham's status as the team's golden boy seemed assured.Instead, two years on at the World Cup, Bellingham's star has not exactly fallen but it has certainly dimmed.Bellingham will face Croatia in England's World Cup opener in Dallas on Wednesday intent on putting his international career in the ascendant once more after appearing to win the battle with Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers for the No 10 role behind captain Harry Kane.And, after tough love from England head coach Thomas Tuchel, Bellingham's World Cup build-up has appeared to be that of a player on a mission for glory, a special talent who can be a key figure in their quest to win the World Cup.Tuchel's strict refusal to operate a star system, as well as the emergence of Aston Villa's outstanding Rogers, has made Bellingham's place the subject of intense debate, a notion unthinkable after Euro 2024.So turn the phrase "who else?" back towards Bellingham - the "who else?" in his England world became boyhood friend Rogers and a single-minded head coach without a care for reputations and status.The relationship between player and coach has occasionally appeared fragile, with Tuchel apologising after revealing his own mother sometimes viewed Bellingham's on-field behaviour as "repulsive" following the friendly loss at home to Senegal last June.Tuchel, whose brutal honesty can sometimes be unfiltered, admitted he used the word "unintentionally" – but then created a further stir by leaving Bellingham out of England's squad for the friendly at home to Wales and the World Cup qualifier away to Latvia last October, even though the Real Madrid star wanted to be included after recovering from shoulder surgery.Since arriving in the United States following a mixed season at Real Madrid, Bellingham has looked fit, fired up and – significantly – integrated in Tuchel's squad as they aim to end a barren sequence for the men's team stretching back to the 1966 World Cup.Bellingham was seen in England's dressing room presenting Liverpool's 17-year-old Rio Ngumoah with his first cap following his debut against New Zealand in Tampa, a sign of seniority even though he is still only 23.So are the cards falling into place for the player mentor Jordan Henderson, who took Bellingham under his wing when he came into the England squad in 2020, believes will give Tuchel's team the vital "X Factor" at the World Cup?Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who will be BBC Radio Five Live's analyst at their games, said: "From what we've seen out here and from what we've heard from the camp and his team-mates, stuff from behind the scenes, England are getting the Jude Bellingham of old back for the World Cup. He looks as fit and focused as he has for a long time."I'd pick him to start. 100%. Morgan Rogers doesn't deserve to lose his place but Bellingham is a big-game player. I'm not saying Rogers isn't, but Bellingham has experience at World Cups and Euros and playing in big tournaments for Real Madrid. He's won the Champions League."Robinson added: "He just has that something others don't have. If his attitude and application is right, you play him. If you get him onside, fit and functioning from day one, that will be a massive factor in this tournament for England."Tuchel has made big calls with him, and the relationship between Jude and the coach has been brought into question, but look at Bellingham's experience. He has got 37 competitive caps. This counts for a lot in a major tournament."Bellingham currently has 48 caps and is poised to play in his third major tournament.Tuchel's approach with Bellingham may just have got this naturally-gifted player with a fierce competitive edge coming to the boil at the perfect time."Thomas Tuchel was brought in to do one job," says Robinson. "I know he's extended his contract, but his mission is to win the World Cup, regardless of how he does it. And he clearly doesn't mind who he upsets along the way."Tuchel is not picking players because they have a certain name or reputation. Bellingham has had to earn his place."Whether this has been to give him a wake-up call or a kick up the backside we don't know, but in the friendlies out here against New Zealand and Costa Rica we have seen the Bellingham of old."And Bellingham will know he must produce because Tuchel has proved more than willing to play Rogers in the role behind captain Harry Kane should form falter.Robinson said: "You've always got something to prove when you're a player of that calibre. Natural talent comes easy. Hard work doesn't. Combining the two makes the best players."England are a far better and stronger team with Bellingham in it, but he will know very clearly he is not irreplaceable. Harry Kane is irreplaceable, but Bellingham isn't because there is Morgan Rogers."It would weaken England if he doesn't play - but he's not irreplaceable."England team-mate Henderson is in no doubt about the impact Bellingham could have, saying: "He gives us something really special. An 'X Factor'. He has had big moments. He is a big-game player."Jude is a huge, huge player for us. Anyone in the group will tell you how good he is as a team-mate."England's cause may even be helped by Bellingham believing Tuchel now has the right formula after telling the Football Association's Lions' Den show: "At the Euros (2024) we got some things a little bit wrong off the pitch."I don't feel like the group connected as well as it could have for a number of reasons. Expectation was part of it - we had done well in 2018 and done well in the Qatar World Cup and when it came to that tournament we were seen as one of two or three teams that should win it."We were not playing particularly well so even when we were winning you didn't get the feeling you were as happy as you should be."Bellingham is now back playing with his usual edge, but also with a smile on his face – and that is what England and Tuchel will want when their World Cup campaign starts in Dallas.World Cup quiz: England's previous opening gamesEverything you need to know about the World Cup

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18 CommentsFrance midfielder Adrien Rabiot has raised concerns about the quality of the pitch at the New York New Jersey Stadium, describing it as "more like an artificial surface".France started their World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win against Senegal at the venue in New Jersey on Tuesday, which is home to NFL teams the New York Giants and Jets.Also known as the MetLife Stadium, it is due to host England's final group game against Panama on 27 June, as well as the World Cup final on 19 July.Rabiot, 31, started and played the full match, assisting Bradley Barcola for the second goal, before criticising the pitch after France's victory."The pitch... I don't even know if you can call it that. It felt more like an artificial surface - quite hard and quite rigid," Rabiot said.Rabiot's complaints echo Brazil forward Vinicius Junior, who cited the pitch's dryness after his side's 1-1 draw with Morocco in their opening fixture."In the second half, with the heat, the pitch dries out very quickly. The game becomes very sluggish and we can't get into our rhythm," Vinicius said.The 78,576-capacity stadium has had a temporary grass pitch installed for the World Cup in place of its artificial surface.The stadium's artificial turf has a poor reputation, with numerous NFL stars suffering serious injuries on the surface.Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers tore his anterior cruciate ligament there in September, becoming the latest player to fall victim to the so-called 'MetLife curse'.Senegal will take on Norway in the next game to be played at the venue on 22 June.A total of eight temporary grass pitches have been installed at 16 of the World Cup host venues, including Boston Stadium where Scotland opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over Haiti last week.Scotland play their second Group C match at the same venue when they face Morocco on Friday (23:00 BST).Listen to the latest Football Daily podcastSoundsGet football news sent straight to your phone

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Midfielder says it is important the European champions have ‘humility’ after disappointing draw against debutantsThe mourning after isn’t always easy, Mikel Merino says – and yes that is mourning with a “u”. “No one died, it’s not a mourning exactly, but at times defeats can feel like that,” the Arsenal midfielder admitted and, although it wasn’t actually a defeat at all, this was one of those times. A 0-0 draw against Cape Verde in their World Cup opener was not the way Spain dreamed it; now, Merino insisted as the selección returned to their Tennessee training camp six long days before they get the chance to make amends, they must deal with it. Each in their own way, but as a family.There they faced a Spanish inquisition too, which was why Merino – the only player not out on the pitch at 11am the morning after a damaging, unexpected draw in Atlanta – was the player chosen to appear in the press room. Seven long desks full of journalists faced him to go with all the noise outside. All part of the game, he called it. “If there’s one thing that’s not good for us, it is for there to be panic,” he said. So here he was, 30 minutes of questions managed with clarity and conviction, offering insight and inspiration. Remember 2010 when Spain lost their first game and won the World Cup? Merino does. He had just turned 14.“Like every game that doesn’t go as you’d like, every player lives with that mourning,” Merino said. “Some like to watch the game back straight away, some like to disconnect and think about other things instead. You have to swallow the disappointment. We have to recover as soon as we can. Luis [de la Fuente] always says that it’s about trying to be better tomorrow, even if you’ve won. We’re always self-critical. Personally, I am not one to send messages [to fans]; I think the best message is the next game, turning it around with a win.”Yet the messages were there. “It is easy to talk of ‘family’ but when things don’t go well, when they are difficult, is when you truly see that ‘family’ – and I see unity, enthusiasm and a will to play well,” Merino said. There was a reflection here on group dynamics: “It is important to have ego; as a footballer, with all the criticism from outside you need it to feel good on the pitch. But you also need the humility to know that this belongs to everyone. Players come to the national team because they are important [at their clubs] and find a new reality where only a few can play.“That’s what the word ‘family’ is. We have to be united, support each other in every moment. You can be annoyed, angry, but that energy has to be positive.”The anger can eat at players and it didn’t take long for Merino’s use of mourning to be picked up. “Maybe I didn’t express myself well,” he replied but, actually, he had expressed himself very well and he would return to the same word. “It was an attempt at a metaphor, a comparison. You’re so competitive that when it doesn’t go well, sometimes you go home and don’t even want to talk to your family. That’s why I say it’s like a mourning. Everyone deals with it differently. I like to face it and watch [games back] as soon as possible but that doesn’t mean it’s the best approach for everyone.“What you want after a bad game is to play again straight away to get the bad taste out of your mouth. The risk [of the expanded World Cup] is you have lots of time to go over it; it’s a mental challenge to deal with that, evade all that and be as free as you can mentally.”Which is not so easy when it is all played out in public. “That’s a reality; it’s part of the business, the reason we earn what we earn, why football is so big, so important: because you’re here to cover it, to create stories through which we explain things to fans,” Merino said, looking across the room. “There are players who like it more, or like it less, but it’s part of the ‘circus’ and we have to accept it and live with it.“Everyone handles these moments their own personal way. I’m one of those that finds it hard to swallow a bad result but with time I’ve realised that it is best to [confront it] and start trying to turn it around as soon as possible. Four, five hours and you realise that this [World Cup] has just started, that there is time to fix it. Then you can focus on the group, on what helps them. Put a hand on the shoulder of whoever is hurt because they didn’t play, or missed a chance. Or know who needs space for that mourning.”Merino admitted that there was relief in seeing Saudi Arabia and Uruguay drawing, leaving him with the feeling that they “start over”. “I like to see the positive side,” he said. “The last world champion started by losing to Saudi Arabia. In 2010 Spain lost the first game and there was lots of criticism and they turned it around; that is an example to follow from people who were idols. I often take inspiration from athletes who have lived my dreams before I did. That generation means so much for this one: we want to emulate them.”A more recent moment of their own serves as an example too. De la Fuente’s spell in charge had begun with a defeat in Scotland, which unleashed ferocious criticism and brought the team together around their coach. A year later, they were European champions. “Against Scotland something similar happened so we have the experience of dealing with it,” Merino said. “This can help the team understand and it’s still early: we have time and room for improvement. We have the humility and confidence, the calmness, to get better, not to go mad because the result wasn’t good.”

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4 CommentsMidfielder Bernardo Silva has joined Real Madrid on a two-year deal, linking up with manager Jose Mourinho.Silva, 31, left Manchester City at the end of last season, bringing an end to a trophy-laden nine-year spell.Silva was heavily linked with a move to Spain, with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid also reportedly chasing his signature.He becomes Real's second signing of the summer as a free transfer after defender Marc Cucurella joined from Chelsea in a deal worth £52m.They finished eight points behind La Liga champions FC Barcelona and were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.Silva is at the World Cup with Portugal and is expected to play a pivotal role for his country.Real are understood to be targeting departing Inter Milan defender Denzel Dumfries, while France defender Ibrahima Konate is set to join after leaving Liverpool.Defender Antonio Rudiger this week signed a contract extension with Real until 2027.

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Real Madrid have signed former Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva on a free transfer.The 31-year-old's contract at City expired at the end of last season, which brought to a close his trophy-laden nine-year stay at the club.Silva has signed a two-year deal at Real, who have already added Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella and extended the contract of centre-back Antonio Rudiger following the return of manager Jose Mourinho.

World Cup News

The Americans have the advantages on paper, but the Socceroos’ strengths are in their defensive organization and the power of the unknownIt is the showdown to determine the world’s best “soccer”-playing nation: the much-anticipated Group D clash between two countries in which football has more than one meaning.Neither will be distracted by nomenclature, however, when the United States run out against Australia in Seattle on Friday in a contest set to captivate both sides of the Pacific.The hosts are ranked higher than the Australians and have an internationally renowned manager. They have greater depth of talent and will enjoy home support. The Socceroos entered the tournament widely tipped to finish bottom of the group stage, but their shock 2-0 victory over Turkey has flipped expectations and made this a showdown for Group D’s winner.It goes without saying now, but for the USMNT this fixture is no “layup”, as one American television pundit had put it, turning to a basketball analogy. Nor is it a penalty kick, a tap-in or a simple finish. The task ahead of Mauricio Pochettino’s side is more like a corner kick. Yes, the situation is looking promising – any side would prefer to have a corner than defend one. Just don’t sleep on the counterattack.One need only look back to last October and see a recipe for a Socceroos victory. In a friendly between the sides in Colorado, Australian left wing-back Jordan Bos scored the opener out of nothing. A throw-in led to one bobble then two amid uncertain defending before Bos slotted home to stun the home fans. It was the visitors’ only shot on goal in the first half in a performance founded on their now-customary conservative play.Bos looms as the main threat for the Socceroos at this World Cup. The 23-year-old is in the conversation as the best left-back in the Dutch Eredivisie, where he helped Feyenoord to second place behind PSV. With a similar posture to Gareth Bale, he is well suited to the 3-4-2-1 system preferred by Australian coach Tony Popovic.The setup is founded on defensive organization, with three central defenders and two holding midfielders. Bos, on the left sideline, is given license to attack past Australia’s inverted wingers. His deep starting position and pace will be a key counterattacking outlet, and his jink against Turkey that left Kerem Aktürkoğlu sliding on the Vancouver turf perfectly illustrated his confidence.In USMNT right-wing-back Sergiño Dest, however, the Americans have a man well-placed to curb Bos’s threat. Dest’s PSV beat Bos’s Feyenoord twice last season on the way to the Eredivisie title, and the American knows Bos’s tendencies as well as anyone. As if to make the point, Dest was injured for the October friendly where Bos ran rampant.The USMNT recovered in that match to win 2-1, thanks to two goals from Haji Wright. The first came from a neat through-ball by Cristian Roldan, who pierced the Socceroos’ mid-to-low block to find Wright. For the second, a quick free-kick to Wright in behind caught out Australian defender Cam Burgess. Australia will be better prepared for both of these situations, and likely to be far less generous in Seattle.In the Colorado friendly, as dominant as the USMNT may have been – the home side enjoyed almost two-thirds of possession – the result was uncertain to the end. Australian forward Nestory Irankunda came close to equalizing in the 89th minute. He outmuscled Miles Robinson, leaving the defender on the turf, produced two stepovers in the area then hammered a low shot that was well saved by Matt Freese.Irakunda had a promising if uneven campaign for Watford in the Championship, scoring four goals. In a friendly for Australia against Curaçao in March, he scored two in just 23 minutes. A confidence player, one of droughts and storms, the 20-year-old showed his threat against Turkey by scoring the opener – a blink-and-you-missed-it counterattack made possible by his pace.That unpredictability and power of the unknown may be Australia’s biggest weapon. Mo Touré, 22, is set to lead the line, and the incisive striker is only just finding his potential. He starred for Norwich after a January move, with nine goals in 11 matches in the Championship.If the recent emergence of Touré and his close friend Irankunda hasn’t made life hard for USMNT staff trying to prepare for the Socceroos, two last-minute selection surprises surely have. The Socceroos called in two forwards just before the tournament who may yet become X-factors even if they are to demonstrate their potential in yellow.Cristian Volpato is a left-footed right winger who plays for Sassuolo in Serie A. The former Italy youth international was born and grew up in Australia, and changed his allegiance days before the squad deadline last month. He has only played one half for Australia – in the warm-up match against Switzerland – but is known for his ball control and delivery.Tete Yengi is a striker who stands 6ft 6in, and has had a promising year for Machida Zelvia in Japan. He scored on his debut against Switzerland and played the last 20 minutes against Turkey.Alongside Yengi, Australia’s towering captain Harry Souttar and perhaps back-up Lucas Herrington – the 18-year-old Colorado Rapids player who has only arrived on the national scene this year – will pose a threat at set pieces. Aside from Chris Richards, central defense and goalkeeper are positions of weakness for the Americans, a fact that won’t have been missed by Popovic, himself a former Socceroos center-back.