28 shots on goal against Australia: 0:2. 33 shots on goal against Paraguay: 0-1. Turkey was eliminated early from the World Cup because they collectively failed in front of the opponent’s goal.
The duel between Turkey and the USA, which was eagerly awaited before the tournament on Friday night at 4 a.m. CEST, is suddenly meaningless. The hosts are already confirmed as winners of Group D. And Turkey will remain last, even if it defeats the Americans by double digits. However, this probability is very low.
Kenan Yildiz and Arda Güler with Top stats in the club
Because if (current) coach Vincenzo Montella’s team showed one thing at this tournament, it was that they couldn’t score goals. There was no shortage of fundamentally qualified personnel. At 21, Kenan Yildiz is considered one of the greatest offensive talents in Europe, and the same applies to his partner Arda Güler, who is the same age.
Yildiz came into this tournament with 21 goal involvements in 47 competitive games for Juventus Turin, while Arda Güler had 20 assists and goals in 51 games for Real Madrid. Against Paraguay they tried everything until the 10th minute of stoppage time. But as in the opening game against Australia, a mixture of hectic pace, bad luck and incompetence made the difference.
Mert Müldür hits the crossbar and post with a shot
Although bad luck didn’t happen all that often. But it was dramatic for Mert Müldür in the 35th minute against Paraguay: after a soulful free kick from Hakan Calhanoglu, the right full-back rose eight meters in front of the goal to head the ball. He hit the ball almost perfectly, Orlando Gill in the Paraguayan goal stretched in vain. But the ball first hit the crossbar, then hit the right inside post – and then turned back towards the field.
What happened much more often than such an accident was the far too hectic conclusions. And also inabilities such as poorly hit balls, overlooked better-positioned teammates, and a shotgun spread on long-range shots. The fact that the Turks were allowed to play in the majority for more than half of the game after Miguel Almirón was sent off hand-to-mouth and ultimately had almost 80 percent possession of the ball made things even more grotesque.
Ten different (mistaken) shooters at Turkey
The burden of failure was spread across many shoulders. In the end, the databases counted ten different players wearing the Turkish jersey who had fired at least one shot on goal. Calhanoglou and Kenan Yildiz had six each – the entire Paraguay team had six in more than 100 minutes of play.
Australia’s keeper Patrick Beach in the first game and now Orlando Gill for the South Americans also delivered outstanding performances, but they were also really warmed up by Turkey. Even when Gill wasn’t running completely smoothly in the final minutes because he was suffering from an ankle injury (or was faking one), it wasn’t enough to bring about a redeeming equalizer: When the central defender Demiral, who had moved up with him, headed just wide of the goal from a free position in the six-yard box in stoppage time, tears welled up in his eyes while the game was still going on.