TÜRKIYE:
How disappointing have Türkiye been?
They lost last night to 10-man Paraguay, being dumped from the World Cup in the process without a win after 2 games. Coming into the tournament, they were tipped as many people’s front-runners to win their group, but it looks like they’ll be headed home far earlier than expected.
64 shots. 0 goals through 2 matches. Oof. A second half camped inside Paraguay’s box, with an opponent reduced to 10 men, and still not scoring a single goal, is embarrassing on its own. But when you take into account Türkiye’s ambition and pre-tournament attitude, it’s hard not to label this as a catastrophic failure for the country.
They’re so talented across the entire pitch and drawn into a group with the United States, Australia, and Paraguay, you absolutely would have backed them to at least finish in the top 2.
Wasn’t meant to be.
Galarza's strike for Paraguay last night inside the opening minute was a sucker-punch for sure, but it was the wastefulness that will haunt Türkiye for a while. Yıldız, Demiral, and Gül all missed their moments, turning disappointment into something closer to grief.
"Everybody's crying," Arda Güler admitted afterward. Montella (Türkiye’s Head Coach) spoke for a dressing room that dominated the ball and lost the war anyway. Sad but proud.
The Crescent-Stars will have to wait 4 more years to take another stab at the World Cup, but they’ll have a chance to end on a less bitter note when they take on the United States (Group winners) on June 25th.
🇹🇷 ⚔️
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The change from the traditional group to head to head results have been the real nail in the coffin here. Even if they could get three points and level with Paraguay on points the loss here means a third place finish is beyond them. Disappointing for Turkiye but could also see many more pointless games in the final round of games across the groups. One of the possibly unforeseen consequences of the new way of doing things!
Turkey didn’t play badly enough to go home. They played inefficiently enough to go home. And that’s been the story of this teams tournament without being too harsh.