Socceroos hit back at worst match of World Cup claims: ‘You can’t make everyone happy’

Australia winger Ajdin Hrustic has dismissed descriptions of their Group D draw against Paraguay as one of the worst matches of the World Cup as the team refocuses on the upcoming last-32 challenge of Mohaed Salah’s Egypt. Sky Sports described the 0-0 draw between the Socceroos and Paraguay as a “largely forgettable game,” while The Athletic said it “won’t be remembered as a classic by anyone who watched it”. Guardian Football Weekly’s Barry Glendenning described the clash as “the worst game of the tournament by a considerable distance”. It had the lowest expected goals tally for the group stage. Hrustic said he was aware of the criticism and made the point that the Socceroos were not at the tournament to entertain. “Look, you can’t make everyone happy can you,” he said. “If it’s one of the worst games for them, fair enough, but we got our job done and that’s what counts, right?” The Socceroos finally left their base in the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday after more than three weeks staying at the historic Claremont Resort. They have travelled to Dallas, where the daily maximum temperature has been hovering around 35C in recent weeks, and is predicted to go as high as 37C on Friday for a 1pm kick-off. The players will avoid the worst of the heat in the 80,000-seat indoor, air-conditioned home of the Dallas Cowboys. Hrustic said the experience of playing in air-conditioned stadiums in Qatar will help, even if training before the game will be outside. …