At the World Cup, a player was thrown off the pitch for the first time because he covered his mouth. Turkey was the beneficiary, but that didn’t change anything about the 0-1 (0-1) defeat – and elimination – against Paraguay. The only goal of the game by Matias Galarza came in the second minute.
However, the historic scene of the game, which is unique in professional football, occurred in stoppage time in the first half. After a duel, Isidro Pitta was left lying down, the Turks suspected the South American striker was acting and a pack was formed. From there, Mert Müldür suddenly turned to the assistant referee in a highly emotional manner and pointed out an action that, at the start of this World Cup, is considered a red flag-worthy offense.
Miguel Almiron had said something in the direction of Müldür and covered his mouth – referee Ivan Barton also recognized this and showed the 35-year-old the red card. FIFA introduced the rule after Vinicius Jr. was said to have been racially insulted by Gianluca Prestianni, who also had his mouth hidden behind his hand, during Real Madrid’s Champions League game against Benfica. The new red rule is intended to prevent such moments.
Paraguay with the fastest goal of this World Cup
Almiron did his team a disservice. Paraguay got off to a dream start to the game; after just 64 seconds, Matias Galarza gave his team a lightning lead with a brilliant low shot from 20 meters.
Matias Galarza celebrates the perfect start against Turkey
After that, an incredibly intense game developed, in which no duel was avoided and there was a lot of speed. Paraguay defended passionately, Turkey ran passionately.
After the 2-0 defeat at the start against Australia, there was a risk of an early exit from the group phase. The enormous number of long-range shots didn’t help either, none of which caused any major danger. This only happened after a free kick cross from Hakan Calhanoglu, after which Mülder headed the ball onto the crossbar and the post – you couldn’t fail to equalize any closer (35′). Otherwise, Vincenzo Montella’s team didn’t do enough with 80 percent of ball possession.
Merih Demiral despaired of what was happening in Philadelphia
Montella demanded “more respect” but his team didn’t deliver
The coach of Türkiye had before the game “more respect” demanded from home that the criticism of his team was too harsh. “I am very disappointed by this chaos. This team has achieved great results in the last three years”said Montella. But now Turkey was on the verge of another huge disappointment – until Almiron made a mistake with his right hand.
Paraguay had already had to defend with all their might in the first half (after the whistle there was still a pack formation in this heated game), but in the second half with one man less the team faced an even bigger task. But first Julio Enciso had the best chance to score the second goal of the game, but the Paraguayan missed completely from close range (60th).
Miguel Almiron is heartbroken after being sent off
Türkiye is about to exit because of the direct comparison
Turkey was running out of time and knew that a defeat after just two games would mean their exit from this World Cup. The reason for this is that the Montella team would no longer have a chance in a direct three-way comparison against Paraguay and Australia; the USA (six points) could no longer be caught anyway. The Turks finally needed their first goal, but the attempts were shockingly harmless.
That suited the fact that the game didn’t offer much in terms of football – but beyond that, it offered so much more. It was probably the most heated, most spirited, most intense and also most dramatic game of the World Cup so far. That’s what this encounter thrived on, and both fan camps in the stands were also a reason why the tension was literally palpable. The World Cup hydration break offered a final break – then it went into the final phase, which decided Turkey’s fate.
Uzun misses the great chance of rescue
Before crunch time started, things got strange again. Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill apparently injured himself during a shot and demanded help – but referee Barton denied him it and demanded that he get up again. The game continued, Gill had to somehow limp along. However, Turkey helped him, they shot from all (safe) positions and almost never hit the goal. The number of shots increased almost every minute, but the number of shots at the box did not.
But then Gill became a hero. Can Uzun from Eintracht Frankfurt had the equalizer on display, but he finished so out of place that the Paraguayan goalkeeper was able to parry the Turks’ 30th shot on goal (89th). Despite their huge efforts, it was only the Montella team’s second big chance, the third came from Merih Demiral in the 96th minute – the ball simply didn’t want to go in.
For Turkey, the World Cup will be over after the third game against the USA, which is the group winner. After the 1:4 defeat at the start against the USA, Paraguay is playing in a direct duel against Australia to advance. Both games will take place on Friday night (4 a.m. CEST).