FIFA World Cup: Live scores and coverage of Socceroos’ opening clash against Turkiye
As Vancouver turns green and gold with crowd support, our Aussies have pulled a pair of surprise moves for their clash against Turkiye. Stay across all the action here!
Soccer: Can our Aussies make some noise at the World Cup, starting with their clash against Turkiye?
The Socceroos open their tournament in Vancouver as they look to overcome the odds and earn a result against the nation that is ranked No.22 in the world.
Tony Popovic’s side are eyeing a statement after Turkiye captain Hakan Calhanoglu said in the lead-up to the match that he expected his side to dominate as they are “more talented”.
Will our boys get the job done? Stay across the blog for all the updates as we prepare for kick-off at 2pm EST / midday WA time.
Formations
The Socceroos head into this contest with a 3-4-2-1.
Toure will play as the lone striker up top but Irankunda will likely get up alongside him or tuck in behind from his attacking midfielder position.
Metcalfe will also likely move between helping in attack and slotting back to defend the central areas.
Italiano and Bos provide the width but will also help out in defence and will be kept busy trying to prevent the Turkish getting crosses into the box.
Turkiye are playing a 4-2-3-1 with Inter Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu and Real Madrid’s Arda Guler both starting.
Juventus young gun Kenan Yildiz is on the bench after returning from a calf injury.
First taste
The Socceroos are out in the middle of the pitch getting their first taste of the atmosphere inside the arena.
There were a few boos around from the Turkish fans but there’s a strong yellow tinge around that welcomed their heros nicely.
Tony Popovic speaks
The Aussie manager is playing his cards close to the chest after pulling two surprise selections.
“I just wanted to play Patrick,” he told SBS.
“The decision is to play Patrick, and I think that’s the one we should focus on.
“It’s a youthful line-up. A lot of excitement, a lot of exuberance and I have a lot of trust in these young players. I’m looking forward to seeing them perform today.”
He also confirmed Toure was ready to go after being ill earlier in the week.
“He’s fine,” Popovic said.
“If there were any doubt, he wouldn’t be starting.”
Filling up
There was a distinct green and gold flavour outside the ground and plenty of Aussies are piling into there seats.
And you won’t be able to miss them.
One hour to go!
We’re inside 60 minutes until kick-off!
Here’s what it looks like inside the stadium... the calm before the storm...
TEAM NEWS: HUGE SURPRISE
From Ben Smith, at Vancouver’s BC Place:
Earlier this week, I said Tony Popovic always had a surprise up his sleeve - but no one could quite have predicted what he had in store for his starting 11 against Turkiye.
The headline is - brace yourself - captain Mat Ryan and vice-captain Jackson Irvine have both been left out.
Instead, young Melbourne City shot-stopper Patrick Beach will start in goal, while Aiden O’Neill is partnered by Paul Okon-Engstler.
Three WA boys all start in Alessandro Circati, Jacob Italiano and Cameron Burgess - the latter displacing Lucas Herrington, a day after the teenager was linked to Barcelona.
Harry Souttar (centre-back) and Jordan Bos (left wing-back) round out the back five.
Mo Toure will start up front, with Nestory Irankunda set to join him Connor Metcalfe in behind him.
With an average age just 24.6 years-old, the line-up is also lacking it’s four most experienced players in terms of caps (Ryan, Aziz Behich, Irvine and Mathew Leckie).
Ben Smith’s viewpoint from the scene in Vancouver
90 minutes before kick-off, the streets of Vancouver turned green and gold.
With an expected 15,000 Australian fans expected to fill the stands at BC Place, the party started well before the game even began.
From early morning, football jerseys of all colours and countries - green and gold, Turkiye red, Brazil, Canada, France, England - were dotted around downtown Vancouver, seeing the sights and enjoying a spot of breakfast.
As lunchtime rolled around, suddenly those colours condensed, collecting around fan sites to watch the earlier slate of games and soak in the festivities.
The Turkish fans had made their presence felt throughout the day, but the Aussie response was loud and proud.
Two separate supporter marches, starting in local watering holes before spilling out onto the streets and enveloping everything in its path.
With green flares guiding the way and filling the air, the Socceroos fans have reminded everyone who writes off Australian football does so at their peril.
Ready to go
While we creep closer to kick-off, here’s Ben Smith’s excellent read on Jackson Irvine and the midfield mainstay’s belief that this squad can do special things across the coming weeks.
Roo beauty!
And here’s The West’s soccer writer, Ben Smith, also in the middle of a sea of Socceroos fans as we edge closer to kick-off! It’s going to be loud inside that stadium!
Fans in full voice
The atmosphere is building nicely some two hours from the start of this one!
The West Australian’s Craig O’Donoghue is at the World Cup as a fan, and he’s found himself firmly in the middle of some serious Aussie fan support in Canada!
