Socceroos assistant says coaches won't dictate players' social media use

[p]The Socceroos meet the U.S. in Seattle ‌on Friday, with both sides pumped up by home media and ‌football pundits after winning their Group D openers against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/turkey/QeijuHo5/"]‌Turkey[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/paraguay/YaNlqp6j/"]Paraguay[/a] respectively.[/p][p]Several U.S. commentators have written off [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/xSrf6qMM/"]Australia[/a] as a problem for the co-hosts, including former centre back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lalas-alexi/8x5lOpMq/"]Alexi Lalas[/a] ‌who judged them an "[b]average team by any measure[/b]" ⁠in his pre-tournament rankings ‌of the 48 participating nations.[/p][p]Foxe said there was no need to ​shield Australia's players from the outside noise.[/p][p]"[b]We can't baby them. They're their own selves, we want them ​to be their own selves,[/b]" the former Socceroos centre back told reporters on Monday.[/p][p]"Social media's out there, they're aware ⁠of media and the ​comments and what's being said.[/p][p]"[b]But we're concentrated on us. They're old enough and mature enough to understand what gets said and what doesn't get said.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="2bb46cef-fbb3-46cf-9445-289e9253b7e1" url="https://x.com/football360au/status/2066672104469078032" social-type="twitter" /][p]Australia, who have never got past ‌the round of 16, enjoyed a dream start in upsetting Turkey 2-0 with classy goals by livewire attacker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/irankunda-nestor/OdWRR5EU/"]Nestory Irankunda[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/metcalfe-connor/zqXaHPUa/"]Connor Metcalfe[/a].[/p][p]Irankunda said Australia's players were fired up by Turkey captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/calhanoglu-hakan/IRQeP5FJ/"]Hakan Calhanoglu[/a] describing his team as more talented than the Socceroos.[/p][p]"[b]It did piss off a few boys, but at the end of the day, these guys can talk all the s**t ... we don’t really care[/b],” ‌he told reporters.[/p][p]Metcalfe said Tony Popovic-coached Australia would go into ​the U.S. match "[b]full of energy, full of confidence[/b]".[/p][p]Foxe warned ‌his players not to get too carried away, though, reminding how everyone got excited at Qatar 2022 when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/saudi-arabia/biSY8ox4/"]Saudi Arabia[/a] upset eventual champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/argentina/f9OppQjp/"]Argentina[/a] only to crash out of the group.[/p][p]"[b]Fantastic win against Turkey. Memorable, great. ⁠Enjoy that moment[/b]," he ⁠said.[/p][p]"[b]Now that's gone. Now ‌we move on to the U.S.[/b]"[/p]