By Pearl Josephine Nazare
VANCOUVER, June 13 (Reuters) – Australia spoiled Turkey’s return to the World Cup stage after 24 years by securing a 2-0 victory in their Group D opener on Saturday, courtesy of goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe and a rock-solid defence.
The Australians created little but took their chances superbly, while waves of Turkish attacks were repelled by the well-drilled green and gold defence as the Socceroos snatched a victory few would have predicted.
Back at the World Cup finals for the first time since coming third in 2002, Turkey turned to 21-year-old playmaker Arda Guler to shoulder the creative burden for their side, and he got his first shot away in the seventh minute.
That effort flew harmlessly over but the Australians heeded the warning and kept him shackled until the 27th minute when he fired a volley on target that was saved by Patrick Beach.
Australia took the lead on their next attack when the pacy Irankunda chased a ball from Paul Okon-Engstler down the left channel before cutting inside and slotting past Ugurcan Cakir to open the scoring.
Abdulkerim Bardakci almost levelled three minutes later, chesting the ball down and unleashing a swerving shot off the outside of his left boot, but Beach pulled off a superb fingertip save to turn the ball onto the post.
Australia got to the break with their one-goal lead intact, and the pattern of the game started to settle with Turkey dominating possession and the Socceroos backing off.
Guler was at the heart of most Turkey attacks but was confronted by banks of Australians behind the ball as they conceded space on the flanks to pack the middle of the pitch.
With Turkey throwing everything at the Australian defence in a futile attempt to find the equalizer, they were stunned once again when Metcalfe picked up a loose ball and tried his luck from distance, his bouncing shot finding the net in the 75th minute.
The result puts Australia second in the group behind the United States after the co-hosts’ 4-1 win over Paraguay on Friday. The top two meet next on June 19 in Seattle.
WHO SCORED THE GOALS?
Irankunda said the Australians had been irked by Turkey being dismissive of their team in the pre-match build-up.
“It was extra motivation, obviously we don’t like to hear people talk bad about us because we’re a great team,” he added. “People underestimate us a lot and we showed them today that we can play.
“Obviously they kept the ball a lot more, but who scored the goals? We scored the goals, and we showed them that we can play football.”
Australia coach Tony Popovic’s tactics worked perfectly on the night, frustrating a Turkish side that had 30 attempts on goal but only eight on target, most of which were comfortably dealt with by Beach.
He praised his coaching staff for the work they had done with the side.
“(I’m) just proud, proud of the staff for the work they put in, and some good decisions there on the sideline,” said Popovic. “Tried to guide them, tried to support the players, and they were outstanding.”
Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella was disappointed with his side’s inability to break Australia down.
“We are extremely saddened,” he said. “We know there is still time to recover in the group stage.
“We have had 78% of the ball, but we have not been precise … we have been very close to scoring a goal but it was very difficult.”
With former U.S. international Alexi Lalas describing Australia as “an average team by any measure” during a recent podcast appearance, Irankunda said their group rivals were more than welcome to discount their abilities.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to let these people talk,” he added. “They can talk all they want, but at the end of the day we’re going to put the performance on the field and we’ve done that today, so we’ve got to focus on to the next game.”
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Vancouver; additional reporting by Philip O’Connor, Sam Tobin and Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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