THE Paraguay achieved a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Türkiye early this Saturday (20) at Levi’s Stadium, in the San Francisco region (USA), in the second game of the Group D from the World cup.
With the result, Paraguay goes to 3 points and maintains its chances of qualifying for the 32-team phase. Turkey, with its second defeat, is the second eliminated, after Haiti.
In the last game of the group, next Thursday (25), at 11pm (Brasília time), Turkey will play bye-bye against the already classified United States, while Paraguay will face off directly with Australia for the spot, as both teams have 3 points.
Midfielder Galarza’s goal, with a shot 64 seconds into the game, was the quickest in this edition of the World Cup.
It was also the second fastest in Paraguay’s history at World Cups, after the 52 seconds it took Celso Ayala to score in the 3-1 victory over Nigeria in 1998.
Scorer of an own goal in the 4-1 defeat to the USA on his debut, Bobadilla didn’t even start playing and gave way to Galarza, scorer of the goal.
Another novelty was the entry of striker Isidro Pitta, from Bragantino, who left at half-time for Bobadilla to enter.
The Turks felt the goal and took a while to get back into the game. Then, they started trying quick plays on the sides of the field. At 34 minutes, the European team missed a great chance to equalize.
Çalhanoglu took a free kick in the area and Müldür shared the ball high up with Junior Alonso. The ball hit the crossbar and then the right post, but did not go in.
Two minutes later, Paraguay counterattacked, Cáceres received the ball in the area on the right side and shot at goalkeeper Çakir.
At 47 minutes, an unprecedented move occurred. With the intervention of the VAR (video referee), the Salvadoran referee Iván Barton sent off Paraguayan attacking midfielder Almirón because he covered his mouth with his hand to say something to Turkish full-back Müldür.
According to the new rule of FIFAthis action is prohibited and punished with a red card.
The rule was created in April this year and is known as Law Vinicius Juniordue to the insults suffered by the Real Madrid striker in Spain, when Argentine Prestianni, from Benfica, covered his mouth to offend the Brazilian in a game of Champions League.
After the expulsion, Turkey increased the pressure, but were unable to equalize. When the referee blew the whistle, technical committees and players from both teams started an argument on the field, but it didn’t last long.
TURKS TRIED A LOT, WITHOUT SUCCESS
In the second half, with one more, Turkey attacked the South Americans and were not afraid to shoot on goal.
In the first minute, defender Demiral shot hard from distance and required a good save from goalkeeper Gill. In the next move, Yldiz shot into the net from the outside.
At 12 minutes, Çalhanoglu had another good opportunity, but shot over. In the next minute, Demiral once again tried from outside the area, the ball deflected off Alderete, and Gill saved.
As time passed, the Turks seemed increasingly anxious, trying shots from all sides, but with low efficiency. Most didn’t even hit Gill’s goal.
In the entire match, there were 32 Turkish shots on goal and only 5 hit the Paraguayan goal.
Meanwhile, Paraguay tried counterattacks and almost managed to expand with Enciso, at 15 minutes. He received the ball outside the box on the right side, passed four markers and finished left-handed, but missed the target.
At 43 minutes, another unbelievable move from Türkiye. In a counterattack from the right, Yildiz crossed for Uzun to hit hard, with a plate. Gill palmed it, and the ball fell to center forward Gull, free, almost inside the small area. He kicked the shin out. But he was prevented.
Despite attempts, the match ended in Paraguayan victory, to the despair of the Turkish players and fans at the stadium in Santa Clara.
