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1 week ago
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Key events
62 mins: Yildiz again looks threatening down the left but as he reaches the byline he’s crowded out and isolated and Australia smuggle clear.
Turkey make their second change with Kokcu replaced by Akgun.
61 mins: Nishan Velupilay is on to give goalscorer Nestory Irankuna a breather.
60 mins: Guler picks up a clearing header but his cute pass inside can’t find a teammate. Then it’s over to the other young superstar Yildiz who dances past Italiano one-on-one and into the box, but the Australian wingback doesn’t give up and gets a toe to a challenge that does just enough to disrupt the shooting opportunity. The Juve flyer could have gone down under that challenge but kept his feet.
59 mins: Lovely interplay from Australia through midfield and down the right buys them some time and territory. Turkey clear but that only allows more composed possession across the Socceroos defence.
57 mins: Great save from Beach! Guler curled it low with his left foot around the wall, but to the keeper’s side and the youngster got down low to parry the shot away. It leads to a corner that Turkey do well to keep alive but Kokcu can’t capitalise on the crumbs, hooking an effort high and wide.
56 mins: Poor turnover coming out of the back from Irankunda. It puts Okon-Engstler under pressure and he is compelled to haul down Guler 25m from goal in a central area. Big chance for Turkey.
55 mins: A few passages of broken play and transitional football suit Australia but when Toure thinks he has a corner it’s called as a goal kick. Nonetheless, any impetus Turkey began the half with has dissipated.
54 mins: Souttar wins the corner with a free header, about 14 yards from goal and Toure almost gets a toe to divert it past Cakir but the Turkey keeper gets down low to make a strong save. The giant Leicester man is undefendable in the air if the delivery is good enough.
53 mins: Bos has a cross deflected behind on the left after another unselfish channel run from Toure.
52 mins: O’Neill does well to break up play in midfield but he has nobody to go to as Montella marches around his technical area waving and urging his players to press.
51 mins: A dangerous set piece is glanced behind for another corner by Souttar. Turkey try to work the second around the edge of the box but Souttar is there again when it’s finally thrown into the mixer.
50 mins: Yildiz is much more dangerous on the left that Yilmaz. his close control brings Turkey’s possession play into the penalty area. Kadioglu gets involved, then the drive is deflected wide for a corner.
49 mins: It’s another poor corner, after which Italiano needlessly larrups a second effort miles wide. In the age of mega-data analysis, which do fullbacks still insist on thumping clearing headers from corners instead of recycling play?
48 mins: Australia’s first counter of the half is full of menace. The Socceroos win the ball in dispute in midfield and the threat of Irankunda’s pace has Turkey’s defence retreating instead of trying to win back possession. The ball is fed left to Bos who cuts in and curls a deflected right-footed effort wide.
47 mins: Turkey immediately on the front foot, trying to get Yildiz involved down the left. The ball comes back to Calhanoglu, who lets fly from the corner of the box, but straight at Beach.
46 mins: One change for Turkey at the break with Yilmaz making way for … Kenan Yildiz. Turkey now at full strength with all their big guns on.
The teams are out for the second half. Only just noticed Tony Popovic has gone full Simeone with his outfit today. Lovely stuff.
Turkey lead possession 70-30. Australia lead xG 0.59-0.44. Styles make fights.
Half-time mailbag II
Onder Susam shares the frustrations of Turkish supporters. “We are having the same problem we’ve had the last two years. Our strikerless formation serves us well against balanced opposition but when opponents defend and give us possession, it’s tough for us to get anyone in the box. Uzun or Gül might work out for us. We’ve had no luck on the right wing.”
“Great half from Australia,” writes James Paraskevas. “We are looking good for a win! Irakunda should have had a double. We look more dangerous on the counter than Turkey do in possession. But we need one more to be safe. Keep pumping it up to Irakunda and Toure on the break, and don’t ball watch in defence. Could play Mabil or Volpato here off the bench for Metcalfe.”
“Hrjustic would definitely improve the scandalous set piece deliveries, which have cost us another goal,” offers Chris Paraskevas. “Irankunda and Toure are encouraging and frustrating in equal measure - they both have picked up the ball in great positions and too often don’t do anything with it. Okon ver.2 has grown into it well and the midfield are working extremely hard, but will need Irvine’s calming presence later on (his legs are gone but there is a role for him). Cam Burgess my player of the first half - reading the game superbly and in full colossus mode.”
Half-time mailbag I
“With the vile hatred being stirred up by Pauline Hanson at the moment, how truly wonderful that our first goal of this world cup was scored by a superb man, born in a refugee camp in Tanzania and who came to Australia as a baby,” emails Karris Evans. “A true Australian hero we can all be proud of. Plus he’s a Perth lad so I may be biased.”
“Is it just me,” asks Paul Cockburn, “or has the quality of crosses been larhely really poor so far in this World Cup. Turkiye seem determined to make a mess of theirs.” It’s not just you Paul, and Australia (Metcalfe especially) are also guilty.
I’m off for a sponsor’s beverage. Here’s some half-time reading to keep you going.
That could hardly have gone better for Australia. All of Tony Popovic’s big calls have paid off so far. The Socceroos are 45 minutes away from a result that will guarantee them knockout football.
Turkey have looked tidy and the more technical of the two sides but they need much more ambition in attack. If Australia remain disciplined in defence it’s hard to see how Turkey, set up in this way, will fashion clear goalscoring opportunities.
Half-time: Australia 1-0 Turkey
Counterattack leads possession-based attack 1-0 at the break.
45+4 mins: Yilmaz remains the outlet for Turkey on the left. He works the ball inside to Çalhanoğlu but his cross is poor. Turkey come again and this time Guler does almost unpick the Australian defence but Akturkoglu can’t get the ball out of his feet under pressure from swarming golden defenders.
45+3 mins: Four minutes of added time in total at the end of this half, by the way. It’s been pretty of stoppages, apart from the obvious massive sponsored one.
45+1 min: Yilmaz, Kadioglu, Guler, all get neat touches of the ball around the Australian box but there’s no room for them to find the required vertical pass to get in behind. Australia’s numbers smuggle the ball clear, then Beach double fists Yilmaz’s latest cross from the left. Eventually the defensive industry forces an error and Beach can settle the tempo with a goal kick.
45 mins: Irankunda close again! Lovely triangular passing on the left by Australia, unpicking the Turkey midfield and defence, freeing Irankunda in the channel. He cuts inside, just like his goal, but this time his shot is straight at Cakir.
43 mins: Okon-Engstler gets robbed in midfield and Turkey have a five on three! It’s so slow and lacking in urgency though that by the time Kokcu tries to square the ball the Socceroos have numbers to clear. That must be so frustrating for Vincenco Montella. That was a golden opportunity and didn’t even lead to a shot.
42 mins: Guler, desperate to insert himself in this contest, lashes a shot high and wide from outside the D, cutting in from the eight on his left. Again Australia had plenty of defenders around the action denying Turkey’s attackers any time and space.
41 mins: Çalhanoğlu and Kadioglu free Yilmaz on the left again but his cross fails to find a target and Australia have numbers near the ball to clear.
40 mins: Play is becoming a little more end-to-end, putting pressure on Australia’s defensive structure, but they do well to regroup after an initial raid, dealing with Yilmaz’s latest cross from the left.
38 mins: Waste for Australia! Irankunda gets the better of his duel on the left to run into space and bring teammates into play, but his pass is poor and the attack fizzles out. From the resulting throw-in the Socceroos work the ball from right to left to Bos in acres of space but his powerful shot is miles over the bar.
37 mins: Australia do well in midfield to link some passes together through Italiano, Metcalfe, and Bos, but Okon-Engstler overhits his cross and Turkey can walk the ball clear, towards the so-far unbreachable golden wall of Socceroos.
35 mins: Yilmaz looks the most likely to get in behind, down the left, and he manages to stab over a cross under duress that Kokcu slices well wide on the volley.
34 mins: The Socceroos enjoy a couple of minutes of respite with turnovers in midfield and some rare broken play. Irankunda is a little fortunate to escape a booking for tugging down Guler in one of those exchanges.
32 mins: Turkey continue to play at a higher tempo but there’s no magic to unlock the organised Australian defence.
31 mins: That was a fierce shot and a career-defining save. Tony Popovic must be chuckling to himself at his decisions so far.
30 mins: Beach tips a a rasping drive onto the post! Turkey try to up the tempo and Bardacki lets fly from range but the young keeper just gets his fingertips to the drive and tips it onto the post. Huge save.
28 mins: That goal is a huge feather in the cap of Popovic who backed Okon-Engstler over Irvine, and could easily not have risked Irankunda. It also came straight after his hydration break pep talk.
First proper effort of the night! Okon-Engstler picks up a second ball and shows good skill to recycle possession. But Australia continue to go backwards, tread water, then Metcalfe and Souttar tie themselves in knots. Eventually Turkey win the turnover then cross for Guler to clip a tasty first time volley at Beach.
The young keeper does well to make the save then feed Okon-Englstler who spots the run of Irankunda on the left channel in behind. He lofts an inch-perfect throughball for the Watford man to gather, cut inside, hold his balance, then pick his spot at the near post. Wonderful finish. Textbook counterattacking goal. Incredible from Australia!
GOAL! Australia 1-0 Turkey (Irankunda 27)
Pure counterattacking brilliance.
24 mins: Australia will be delighted with their opening quarter (yuk). Out of possession they have been nearly flawless, compact and hard working. There is little attacking threat going the other way but Bos has shown glimpses and Toure has run intelligent channels, especially on the right.
Hydration break time. Over to Martin Burley. “The commonsense solution to the hydration break issue is for Fifa to set up a table on the centre spot, with cups of water on it. Players can grab one while running past when needed, like marathon runners. It would also bring innovation to the game as central midfielders will need to add hurdling and/or crawling quickly to their skillsets.
Obviously, the main (and indeed only) flaw with this plan is it would be risky for goalkeepers to rehydrate (given their personal drinks bottles would be banned), but as this game is showing, a bit of added excitement would often be welcome.
If Fifa are concerned about the loss of advertising revenue they could compensate by charging the players, say, $10,000 per cup.”
22 mins: The Australian defensive web is blocking almost all Turkish passing lanes. Turkey are not getting frustrated just yet, but they’re going to need to rethink Plan A if they want to get in behind this compact structure. They are dominating possession but it is slow and methodical. They would benefit from someone taking the game on with a little more dynamism.
21 mins: Better from Australia, drawing Turkey onto them then Bos beats his man on the left to allow Okon-Engstler room to manoeuvre, but he can’t find Irankunda.
19 mins: For every Turkey attack there is an equal and opposite Australian counter. Toure again threatens down the right but he trips over his quick feet and doesn’t win the corner he expected.
18 mins: Kadioglu sidefoots over from just outside the box after more good work from Calhanoglu. The Inter veteran is running the game.
17 mins: Long and floaty again from Metcalfe, but this time Cakir can’t get all of it and Souttar is in the vicinity, but he can only nod well wide. There was a block on the Turkish keeper anyway so any goal would not have counted. I’m a little surprised Popovic didn’t select Hrustic or a dedicated left-footed specialist because Metcalfe’s set-piece delivery was poor against Mexico in their recent warm up.
16 mins: Australia try to play out from the back but Turkey’s press is full court and they are forced into a series of nervy one-twos. They show great bravery though and eventually find room to unlock Toure in the right channel. Unlike Bos earlier, he does buy his team a corner.
14 mins: Incredible speed from Bos to turn an overhit channel runner from Metcalfe into something useful – but he can’t buy the corner he was looking for and Turkey resume their walking-pace grind.
12 mins: Turkey force the turnover in midfield but there is more desire in Australia’s retreating defence than the European attack and the opportunity to counter comes to nothing. Yilmaz then hits his cross behind from the left after getting outside Italiano.
11 mins: The crowd is very pro-Turkey. There are loud whistles whenever Australia take possession, like when Bos does well to break the press and allow his side to build in midfield through O’Neill, his ball in the channel enables Italiano to get in behind but the wingback’s dinked cross can’t find a teammate.
10 mins: Australia get a rare spell of possession across their back three but Turkey press high and prompt a long diagonal which is easily intercepted. As expected, this is attack v defence. So far Turkey’s ball movement has been slow and conservative, and Australia’s defence has been disciplined and well organised.
9 mins: Turkey get the ball down again and pad their already dominant possession stats.
8 mins: Metcalfe’s delivery is poor. Too high and floaty and Cakir bosses his penalty area to claim the overhead mark. Australia must do better in those situations.
7 mins: Toure’s industry wins Australia corner on the right. They have to make the most of these opportunities.
6 mins: Guler has his first major involvement in the match, working a lovely one-two on the edge of the box then curling a left-footed effort over the bar.
5 mins: Turkey get back on the ball with Calhanoglu dictating terms at walking pace, liking with Kokcu and Celik on the right. Australia are defending with 11 men in their defensive third.
4 mins: Australia head the first corner over the bar. The second is headed out of danger, with the second ball smuggled out for a corner. It’s hard for the Socceroos to clear their lines though with so many bodies in defensive positions. Toure does well to rob Guler and eventually Beach can thump the ball downfield, although not enormously convincingly.
