Tearful Turkey crash out without a goal

Turkey arrived at their first World Cup ​in 24 years with great expectations and a host of rising stars but crashed out goalless and ‌in tears after another shocking failure to convert against Paraguay.

Despite facing 10 men for more than a half, Turkey slumped to a 1-0 defeat against the spirited South Americans after racking up 32 goal attempts to be eliminated with a match to spare.

It came after they amassed ​30 fruitless attempts in a 2-0 opening defeat by Australia, a match in which they were similarly thwarted ​by poor finishing and a staunch opposition defence.

The 62 shots combined were the most without ⁠a goal in any two-match span in the World Cup on record in data collected since 1966.
That wastefulness was ​only amplified by Paraguay's incredible efficiency as Matias Galarza struck the tournament's fastest goal with a stunning, 25-metre strike just over ​a minute into the match.

Turkish fans will wonder what might have been had Mert Muldur's 35th minute header from a free kick gone in off the crossbar rather than rebounding against the post.

That was as close as Turkey came despite players queuing up for a ping at ​goal right up to the finish, with Baris Yilmaz, Can Uzun and Merih Demiral all failing to put away ​good chances.

Arda Guler, the 21-year-old pinup boy of Turkish soccer, apologised to the nation.

"We tried very hard but it didn't work. But we ‌should ⁠have scored some goals," he said.

"We should have won these games ... Everybody's sad, everybody's crying."

It was a stunning fall for a team that made a swashbuckling run to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals. A golden generation of players anchored by the young talents of Guler and Kenan Yildiz had appeared set to make their mark on the global stage.

Instead, Turkey's players and ​staff will face a fierce ​reaction on the home ⁠front before their final group game against the U.S., who have already qualified for the round of 32.

-Reuters