World Cup Group D: United States 2 (Burgess OG 11, Freeman 43) Australia 0From the Pacific Northwest, another persuasive 90-minute’s pitch by the USA football team to become the national darlings just in time for their nation’s auspicious birthday. On a hot Friday noontime in Seattle, it looked for a while as if the host team could not stop scoring. Seattle, depicted in so much film lore as rain-drenched and misty, was sun-wreathed and vibrant as the hosts again contributed to the sense that the World Cup is taking on a unstoppable momentum.This place prides itself on being a cauldron during the low-wattage, Pacific winters when the city revolves around the performance of the Seahawks, its NFL team. Lumen stadium has, over its 20-year history, earned the reputation as the loudest crowd in the league. Put the national team a week after that honking 4-1 win over Paraguay for a midday kick-off on a Friday when the bars around the industrial quarter of Sodo (’South of The Dome’, for the now-razed stadium that stood here) opening at 7am: it was always going to be raucous.The nagging concerns about the fitness Christian Pulisic, scintillating in the USA’s opening night win against Paraguay, was confirmed about an hour before the midday kickoff. He would not start, nor would he be available to Mauricio Pochettino on the substitute’s bench after the hamstring injury which forced him off failed to clear. Ricardo Pepi, the 23-year-old Texan striker who had drawn strong reviews of his club performances with PSV Eindhoven, came into the first eleven, forming an attacking partnership with Flo Balagun.Tony Popović, Australia’s coach, released a left-field selection of is own, dropping both scorers from the side that beat Turkey 2-0 in favour of veteran Matthew Leckie and Nishan Velupillay. It was an acknowledgment of their intent to press and harass the USA team through the emotional surges of the early stage.It didn’t work. With Pulisic watching from the shadows, the USA tore into this assignment with the same abandon which stunned Paraguay. The first atomic Seattle roar followed Leckie’s sliding tackle which left McKennie writhing in pain. Then Velupillay clattered into Adams in the 16th minute. When Adams was body-checked during a sweeping attack by Jordan Bos a minute later, the referee produced a yellow card to howls of approval. For all of Australia’s pronounced, compact resilience, they started to creak early.In the 11th minute, Antonee Robinson invited Balogun onto on toss along the left wing and he had the space to blitz Circati in a foot race: the squared ball caught the retreating Cameron Burgess, who turned it into his own net. Just as against Paraguay, the speed and adventure of the USA had earned them an own goal that was less an error than a reward for their invention.Cameron Burgess of Australia (L) and Weston McKennie of USA in action. Photograph: Stephan Brashear/EPA A pair of corners just before the hydration point gave Australia a reprieve but the remainder of the half was equally torrid, best summed up when Okon-Engstler was forced into just passing the ball to nobody during another USA press: the Seattle crowd roared as the ball trickled over the line. The tackling was meaty and a continuation of a fractious encounter between the teams in a challenge game in Colorado last autumn.The USA struck again just before half-time: a clever set-piece from a corner, with Robinson playing a smart pass to Dest, lurking on the edge of the box. He let fly: the blocked shot skewed maliciously in the air. Patrick Beach, Australia’s goalkeeper, lost his footing as he watched it. As he recovered, Freeman came thundering through to head it beyond the flailing Beach. The goal was confirmed after a VAR offside check. The USA bench invaded the field to embrace the ecstatic Freeman.The break gave Tony Popović little time to concoct something to thwart the speed and relentlessly-attack minded approach by Pochettino’s team. The stats read 70 per cent possession and 259-78 completed passes in favour of the home team. Like their hosts, Australia arrived in Seattle in buoyant form after their 2-0 win against Turkey in the first game. But second round games can be treacherous and facing a rampant host team in a deafening stadium: the second half threatened misery for the Socceroos. Not surprisingly, in came Irankunda and Metcalfe, the goalscorers against Turkey along with Geria, who replaced the luckless Burgess.Cristian Volpato, on the field just seconds, found himself at the end of a terrific chance in the 60th minute but flashed his shot over the bar and then Metcalfe benefbenefited an untidy US attempt to clear their lines and fired a warning shot which Freese saved comfortably. The crowd chants of USA were deafening but their team couldn’t tap into their irrepressible momentum of the first half. The quality of the play degenerated. The players became to tire in the midday heat and Metcalfe and Irankunda looked the likeliest to profit from the general malaise.Pochettino replaced Dest and Robinson, outstanding at left full-back but yellow-carded and exhausted, as the USA sought to merely see the game out now and the Australians attacked with desperation. Souttar had a point-blank chance thieved from his foot by Chris Richards in the 86th minute. Two minutes later, Souttar and Balogun were both carded for wrestling one another as the teams continued to thump into one another. But the clock was Australia’s enemy by now. Felix Zwayer, the German referee, was treated for cramp during injury time as the Australians prepared to lob a free into the USA penalty box in the hope of generating mayhem. Even with the two-goal cushion, Pochettino’s sideline angst was visible. There were intimations of the limitations which slicker teams may expose. But that’s for then. In the city of the Grunge revolution, the crowd belted out the 1980s staple, Livin’ On A Prayer.But the USA are more than half way there and will return to Los Angeles in the expectation of making it three from three against Turkey next Thursday.“I think it was a fantastic game,” said Pochettino afterwards.“We dominated the game against a very tough team. When the draw happened in December, I told the players that it was going to be a really tough game.”In the stands, the crowd chanted his name.“Amazing,” he admitted. “I was saying yesterday Argentina have amazing fans but I think we are matching Argentina.”USA: Freese; Robinson (Trusty 80), Ream, Richards, Freeman; Dest (Scally 80), Adams, Tillman, McKennie (Reyna 90+4) ; Pe; (Berhalter 74), Balogun (Wright 90+4).Australia: Beach; Bos, Burgess (Geria 45), Souttar, Circati, Italiano; Velupillay (Irankunda 45), Okon-Engstler (Irvine 78), O’Neill, Leckie (Volpato 60); Toure (Metcalfe 45)