1 hour ago
Key events
Sam Lewis
Looking astatine nan group’s permutations, some Turkey and Paraguay will now person Australia squarely successful their sights aft the Socceroos mislaid 2-0 to hosts USA earlier today.
A triumph for either squad coming will bring them level connected points pinch Australia (3), though precisely wherever they’ll extremity up – 2nd aliases 3rd – will beryllium decided by extremity difference.
The USA are each but done to nan information of 32 aft their broad win, sailing into their 3rd and last group crippled connected six comfy points. Here’s Alexander Abnos connected nan match:
double quotation markAs John Denver’s Country Roads blared complete nan Seattle Stadium PA, they celebrated history: a spot successful nan knockout information secured pinch a crippled to spare, 2 wins to commencement a World Cup for nan first clip since 1930, a large infinitesimal for a breakout prima successful goalscorer Alex Freeman, and nan continuation of a travel that US Soccer dream will beryllium transformative for nan athletics successful their country.
“We built nan triumph successful our attitude,” Mauricio Pochettino said. “Today, moreover if I americium not American, aft nan crippled I was affectional … To link pinch nan group is what we wanted.”
Preamble
Sam Lewis
Hello friends and invited to unrecorded sum of Group D’s 2nd lucifer betwixt Turkey and Paraguay. Kick-off astatine San Francisco Bay Area Stadium is scheduled for 8:00pm section clip (11pm EDT/4am BST/1pm AEST).
Both sides travel into this important conflict having mislaid their opening matches successful alternatively startling fashion. Turkey, favoured by galore to apical nan group, unexpectedly lost 2-0 to Australia, while Paraguay were picked isolated by hosts USA 4-1 a week ago.
Neither squad was particularly convincing successful those losses. Turkey’s ascendant possession did not construe into convincing chances, creating an mean xG of conscionable 0.04 contempt having 2 of nan tournament’s astir breathtaking young attackers successful Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz.
Paraguay, meanwhile, were defensively shambolic, allowing nan USA to person 53 touches successful their ain punishment area: nan second-most down Curaçao’s demolition astatine nan hands of Germany. They did propulsion a extremity backmost from their only changeable connected target, but that glimmer of dream papered complete immoderate overmuch deeper cracks.
As a result, each broadside will beryllium looking to reconstruct a spot of dignity and repair their antagonistic extremity quality arsenic nan doorway to nan information of 32 slow closes successful beforehand of them. The loser of this lucifer will almost surely beryllium sent home.
This is nan first high-stakes lucifer betwixt Turkey and Paraguay successful their history, pinch their only different gathering coming successful a friends complete a decade ago, truthful it’ll beryllium a lucifer of find for some sides arsenic they effort to prevention a spot of face.
I’ll beryllium backmost pinch nan line-ups shortly, but successful nan meantime, what did you deliberation of nan opening performances of these 2 sides? Which consequence shocked you more? And really do you reckon this 1 will play out? Send maine an email astatine [email protected]
