The Socceroos have crashed back down to earth and been served up a sobering reminder of their World Cup mortality as USA emphatically put them to the sword 2-0 in Seattle.

Australia were plagued by schoolboy errors and had their lunch money taken from them by their in-your-face opponents as the co-hosts ran riot in front of a near sell-out crowd in Seattle.

While Cameron Burgess own-goal and Alex Freeman’s close-range finish were hardly pretty finishes, they were rich reward for a dominant first-half US performance.

Where the Socceroos had looked settled in Vancouver, they appeared sleepless in Seattle, as a physical USA set the tempo, winning seemingly every 50-50 duel while Australia looked nervous in possession.

In front of nearly 70,000 fans, the US were able to harness the energy of a largely American crowd, while the focus and discipline exhibited in Australia’s win over Turkey deserted them.

Coach Tony Popovic’s pre-game decision to preserve last week’s goal-scorers, Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe by starting them on the bench proved ineffective as replacements Mathew Leckie and Nishan Velupillay proved ineffective.

Velupillay was withdrawn at half-time, while Leckie was forced off in the second-half through injury.

While the absence of US star Christian Pulisic had raised pre-game concerns about a potentially blunted attack without him, the Americans made up for it with an intensity that tilted the pitch and overwhelmed the Socceroos.

USA’s comfortable victory put them in a commanding position to top Group D, but thankfully for the Socceroos, defeat does not render their hopes of advancing null and void.

With the extra third-placed qualifying berths providing some solace, Australia need a draw or a win against Paraguay in Santa Clara on Thursday (Friday WST) to secure a round of 32 berth.

In front of a heaving Seattle Stadium, a pre-game pep rally from Paris Hilton had an already excitable American crowd on the edge of their seats as they soaked up the sunlight.

Just 40 seconds in, a US turnover resulted in Mo Toure shooting straight at Matt Freese from a wide angle — it was not a sign of things to come.

With memories of the two sides’ chippy encounter in Denver last year looming large, the vocal, patriotic home crowd were all over Leckie after a desperate lunge which caught Weston McKennie’s ankle (and probably deserved a yellow).

Two minutes after a nice play down the right ended in a Sergino Dest shot cannoned into Burgess, the US hit the front through the Australian centre-back after Folarin Balogun burnt Jacob Italiano for speed and Burgess got his body position all wrong, sending the ball into his own net.

The predominantly American crowd was crowing and influencing matters on the pitch. After Jordan Bos copped a yellow card for a trip, McKennie managed to avoid a booking despite deliberately halting a quick restart from a free-kick.

Worryingly, the Socceroos were in their own heads. Easy passes were missed, they were half a yard late to challenges and getting exposed in behind their defence.

Wing-backs Bos and Jacob Italiano were pinned back by the pressure, while there was a lack of clarity in midfield as Aiden O’Neill and Paul Okon-Engstler were beaten to the punch and forced the ball into traffic.

Australia’s only real first-half chance of note came in the 26th minute when Leckie slid a low ball into Velupillay, but the recovering Freeman did enough to divert the ball wide.

The US were in party mode, rolling the ball around like trained seals — and the celebrations continued on the stroke of half-time.

After Dest’s shot was deflected and wrong-footed Patrick Beach, Freeman reacted quickest and bundled the ball home and while he was initially ruled offside, the Video Assistant Referee spotted a trailing leg which played him onside.

Velupillay and Burgess were hooked at half-time alongside an unfortunate Toure, who had been forced to feed off scraps, with Irankunda, Metcalfe, and Jason Geria thrust into the action.

There was little sense of an uprising in the second half, with Alessandro Circati preventing a third after chasing down the jet-heeled Balogun.

Leckie’s injury brought Cristian Volpato into the fray, and he immediately released Irankunda before putting the return pass wide — although the VAR’s decision to ignore a trip on Metcalfe in the box was puzzling.

There was some life in Australia; there was a sense USA had put the cue in the rack, their players lapping up the adulation from the adoring crowd as if they were showmen.

And for all the impact Metcalfe and Volpato made off the bench, a staticity in the final third resulted in Australia’s best route to goal being hopeful crosses to a sub-six-foot Irankunda against American giants Chris Richards and Tim Ream.