BERKELEY, California -- Socceroos assistant Mile Jedinak has pushed back on criticisms of the side's approach in their 2-0 defeat to the United States, believing that a positive second half has already laid the platform for a bounce-back against Paraguay.
Jumped on by a relentless United States straight from the opening kickoff, the Socceroos fell to a defeat against the hosts in Seattle last Friday, with Mauricio Pochettino's side locking in top spot in Group D as a result.
Several former Socceroos, some former international teammates of coach Tony Popovic and Jedinak, were forceful with their critiques of the Australians' approach to the game, especially the decision to withdraw Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe -- goalscorers from the side's 2-0 win over Türkiye -- from the starting XI.
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Part of SBS' coverage, Harry Kewell said, "You need to go for it. This is your one chance that you get to play in a World Cup, it's every four years. You have to go and attack," while on ABC Sport, Mark Schwarzer assessed: "I felt that we didn't give ourselves a chance in the first 45 minutes. I thought tactically [it] was wrong, selections were wrong."
On Stan Sport, Mark Bosnich said the XI meant "the game was over before it started," and in the Daily Telegraph, Robbie Slater was blunt, writing that "[Popovic] picked Mathew Leckie and Nishan Velupillay, who had nothing seasons in the A-League and that's why we lost. We didn't give ourselves a chance to threaten USA."
Jedinak momentarily bristled when the criticisms of his fellow internationals were put to him on Sunday, before emphasising that the squad on the ground in California was aligned in their processes and on the same page.
"Everyone's entitled to their opinion," Jedinak said. "That's absolutely fine.
"You're never going to make everybody happy, we understand that. But what happens is, we do have access to the players all the time, and the decisions have to be taken. It's never, it's never easy.
"No one wants to miss out on playing. Especially when you're playing in a World Cup, when there's something at stake, and representing your country. Any footballer or former footballer will say, when I'm not named on the team sheet, it hurts a little bit. They should feel that way, because that's the competitiveness of it.
"It doesn't always align to someone's opinion; you can never make everybody happy. What's clear is how you got to that decision, what the conversation was around it. You guys aren't privy to that, and you won't be privy to that, because it has to stay within us. And how that message gets delivered to the players is up to us as a coaching staff, and the way that they respond to that as a group is them as a group - that stuff has to be kept that way.
"Opinions are going to be there, and everyone's entitled to that. I don't get offended. I've learned long ago that you have to stay focused on what you can control, and if people are giving their informed opinion, no problem. That's ok, it's just how we then move forward with that. We're clear in our minds of what we need to do and how we need to approach the game, or any situation, for that matter, and we try to execute it as best as we can."
Regardless of why the Socceroos were "flat and lethargic" opening half and improved in the second -- Jedinak of the view that the latter was more down to their improvements than the United States easing off -- they'll need to carry the momentum into their meeting with Paraguay in Santa Clara on Thursday.
A win or a draw for the Australians would lock them into a second-place finish and a meeting with Group G's second-place finisher in Dallas, while a loss would leave them sweating on results elsewhere before they found out if they would advance as one of the eight-best third-placed finishers.
"The disappointment is one half, the disappointment is one half of football," said Jedinak.
"When you do the balance of that, out of the four halves, we've had three that have been positive. You start from that point, and you reinforce that message with the boys, and that's exactly how it's been framed to them.
"What's important is that they understand that they know where and how we could have dealt with the first half. We do that as a team, we analyse that as a team, and then once that's done, we're looking forward to what lies ahead."
The former Socceroos skipper also made a point to praise the second-half revival against the United States as being player-driven.
"I think they've done it themselves," he said. "One half of football was transformed in the second half, so it's nothing to do with me -- they've gone and done it themselves. Is that maybe a little bit of a bit more belief? How does that come about? It's them actioning what's been asked of them, and ultimately, they've taken responsibility for that. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit for that, because it's not easy.
"Everyone stuck with each other, and that's what you need in those moments, and that's what you're going to need again on Thursday night."