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.
That’s a wrap
A historic day for the Socceroos as they take down Turkiye in a stunning upset to open their World Cup campaign.
Their second game is in the early hours of Saturday morning against the USA who say Australia is “average”.
Until then, stay up to date with all of the latest World Cup and Socceroos news at thewest.com.au.
Let ‘em talk!
Australia’s youngest-ever World Cup goalscorer has a message for the rest of the competition.
“Obviously, we don’t like to hear people talk badly about us because we’re a great team,” Irankunda told SBS.
“People underestimate us a lot, and we showed them today that we can play. 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.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to let these people talk. 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 did that today.
“So, we’ve got to focus on the next game but we celebrate for now and regroup.”
The young gun was still full of energy after the match and described his FIFA World Cup debut as “unreal”.
“It’s epic. Unreal. A dream come true,” he said.
“We’ve got the win now. We worked extra hard, we fought until the end, and it’s just an exciting moment.
“It feels amazing. You’ve got to thank the staff, you’ve got to thank the nation. You know, they all had the belief in me to do so well, and I felt like today, getting that goal, it was amazing.”
He even walked fans through taking on Aussie legend Tim Cahill’s iconic boxing celebration.
“Timmy Cahill’s my biggest inspiration when it comes to football,” Irankunda said.
“Him and Lionel Messi. Tim Cahill, Australia’s greatest in my opinion, and I just thought if I scored I’d do the same as him, and I got to do it.”
A proud Pop
Socceroos manager Tony Popovic says Patrick Beach’s performance is what he thought he would get from the young A-League keeper.
“It’s something that we’ve always seen, and I have a lot of belief in the young man,” he told SBS.
“He stood up today, so very happy for him.”
His sense of pride about the side’s youngsters was also clear, praising Okon-Estler and Irankunda combining for the opening goal.
“It was quite special to see the young boys combine to score a goal,” Popovic said.
“You can’t underestimate what this will do for the confidence and belief.
“Emotionally, it will take a lot out of the players, this game. So, we’ve got to get back and recover well and focus on the US.”
He also shouted out the fans.
“I’m proud to be here as head coach, experience this and put smiles on the faces of these people who have travelled so far to support us,” he said.
Going nowhere!
The Aussie fans are basking in the joy in the Stadium.
Very few have left the arena and the pride is palpable.
THREE-WORD ANALYSIS
The Socceroos have stunned Türkiye to open their World Cup in dream fashion after goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalf.
MATCH REPORT
For the first time since 2006, the Socceroos have begun the FIFA World Cup on a winning note, conjuring up a valiant, backs-against-the-wall boilover 2-0 result against Turkiye.
READ the full match report from Ben Smith in Vancouver below!
FT: Australia 2, Turkiye 0
Another World Cup chapter to remember for the Australians!
They upstage one of the big sides in their group.
It’s also the first time they have won their World Cup opener since 2006.
Irankunda and Metcalfe get the plaudits for scoring but everyone showed they can match it at the elite level.
Could this team launch something special from here?
Ouch!
Souttar has just copped a rocket to the face!
Turkiye are doing everything they can to get back into this game but the Aussies a literally throwing everything into their defence.
AUS 2 - 0 TUR 90+4
Injury time
There is six minutes to play.
Three is for the hydration break and three for actual injury time.
AUS 2 - 0 TUR 0 90
Beach again!
Yurkiye take another shot at Beach from a free kick and he keeps them out again.
The bane of Turkiye!
AUS 2 - 0 TUR 86’
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