Soccer: Can our Aussies make some noise at the World Cup, starting with their clash against Turkiye?
The Socceroos open their tournament in Vancouver as they look to overcome the odds and earn a result against the nation that is ranked No.22 in the world.
Tony Popovic’s side are eyeing a statement after Turkiye captain Hakan Calhanoglu said in the lead-up to the match that he expected his side to dominate as they are “more talented”.
Will our boys get the job done? Stay across the blog for all the updates as we prepare for kick-off at 2pm EST / midday WA time.
Stressful!
Australia are defending at all costs.
Bodies are being thrown around everywhere with the Socceroos dropping as deep as they can in the low block.
Turkiye dominate the stats with 66 per cent possesion, down from 70 at halftime, 20 shots and 30 touches in the attacking box.
However, the metric that measures how many goals they could have generated from their work is almost the same as Australia showing that much of their work, and stats, have been meaningless.
However, the Socceroos will be desperate for a second goal to give them some breathing room.
AUS 1 - 0 TUR 70’
Aussies sub
The goal-scorer Irankunda gets an ovation as he comes to the bench.
Fellow attacker Nishan Velupillay is into the game as Turkiye put together their most dangerous patch of the game.
AUS 1 - 0 TUR 62’
Life’s a Beach!
In just his fourth game Beach is having a brilliant game.
Turkiye get a dangerous free kick perfectly placed outside the box.
They take a shot at goal but the Aussie keeper dives low to his right and saves a goal.
The Aussies settle for clearing the ball for a corner and then see that off as well.
A big Turkiye bullet staved off.
AUS 1 - 0 TUR 58’
Clear chance
Toure and Bos combine for a big counter.
Toure ran the ball to the edge of the box before laying it off to Bos.
He cut inside but his shot was deflected for a corner.
O’Neill’s corner was too high for Souttar and Italiano tried a speclative shot and missed by miles.
AUS 1 - 0 TUR 49’
Back underway
Turkiye start the second half but Australia stop them short of the box.
All angles covered
Nestory Irankunda is living the dream after scoring in his first World Cup game.
HT: Australia 1, Turkiye 0
The Australian’s have had the first half of their dreams.
Turkiye have owned possession but have done little with it as the Socceroos stay organised at the back with the wing backs dropping into a five-player defence.
Toure and Irankunda are really surprising the Turkish defence and look a chance to score anytime they launch a forward run.
Souttar and Burgess have had a few moments to forget but overall Popovic will be very happy with their effort on defence.
Three of the six teams that have scored first so far in this tournament have gone on to win so their is still a lot of work to be done by the green the gold.
The passion
It’s fair to say Irankunda’s goal was felt by Aussie fans everywhere!
Australia push
Bos smashes a volley from distance well over the box but the Aussies are causing issues for Turkiye.
Toure and Irankunda are making great forward runs and while there have been a few nervy moments in defence, Beach is holding firm.
AUS 0 - 0 TUR 40’
GOAL!!!!!!
Irankunda has scored!
A thrilling counter unleashes the Aussie young gun and he buries the shot in the bottom corner one-on-one with the keeper.
The ball over the top freed him up and he could not be stopped.
It came after Beach made a strong save from a good volley.
AUS 1 - 0 TUR 27’
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