Australia put the cat amongst the pigeons in World Cup Group D with an impressive 2-0 victory over Turkiye in Vancouver.
The Socceroos’ win was built on fine individual goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe, and a fairytale World Cup debut for their young goalkeeper Patrick Beach.
Beach, aged 22 and winning only his third cap, was surprisingly selected ahead of the captain Mathew Ryan but more than justified his selection by making eight saves.
Turkiye dominated possession throughout, but Australia’s defensive shape was excellent and they were more than happy to play on the counter-attack. That approach led to the first goal, beautifully taken by Watford’s Irankunda in the 27th minute.
Beach made his best save of the night shortly after, flying to his right to paw a long-range shot from Abdulkerim Bardakci onto the post.
Turkiye upped the tempo after half-time and had several near misses before they were hit by a sucker punch from Metcalfe in the 75th minute. They kept pushing, even at 2-0 down, but could not find a way past Beach.
An intriguing Group D resumes on Friday, when Australia face the co-hosts USA, and Turkiye meet Paraguay in a match neither team can afford to lose.
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