The Socceroos’ World Cup group has been blown open after Paraguay eliminated Turkey — but the South Americans suffered a monumental loss with a star playmaker sent off and banned from the high-stakes Australia clash.
Matias Galarza struck the only goal inside two minutes as Paraguay held on to win 1-0 over Turkey.
But they will be without Miguel Almiron in their Group D clash with the Socceroos next week after the 32-year-old became the first to fall foul of new rules banning players from covering their mouths during confrontations with rival players.
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Almiron and Turkey’s Mert Mulder exchanged words following a foul in the middle of the field late in the first half.
Almiron covered his mouth while saying something to Mulder, who immediately appealed to referee Ivan Barton for punishment.
Barton went to video review and quickly ruled Almiron should be sent off under a new rule put in place for this year’s World Cup.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino pushed for the new rule after Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni tried to hide verbal insults toward Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior in a Champions League game.
Despite the negative of losing Almiron, Paraguay are now in with a chance of progressing to the knockout round in second place under another set of rules put in place for the World Cup.
Head-to-head results are the primary tiebreaker, meaning whoever wins between Paraguay and the Socceroos will finish second in the group while the loser will sit third and hope they are one of the eight best third-placed teams.
A draw would be enough to put Australia in second place on a goal difference tiebreaker.
The Group D runner-up will face the Group G runner-up — one of Belgium, New Zealand, Iran or Egypt — in the Round of 32, while Germany and France are among the possible opponents for the third-place Group D team.
Paraguay’s win ramps up the pressure on a Socceroos side already needing to pick themselves up after their 2-0 loss to the United States on Friday in Seattle (Saturday AEST).
Galarza gave Paraguay a second-minute lead over Turkey as he collected a pass from Julio Enciso and fired a low effort into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
With both sides having lost their opening game, there was plenty at stake at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium and the tension soon led to a fiery encounter.
Muldur’s header from a free-kick hit the crossbar and post before bouncing away as Turkey came close to a 33rd-minute equaliser.
Given their numerical advantage it was no surprise that Turkey dominated the second half, with Orlando Gill saving from Abdulkerim Bardakci.
Enciso fired a good chance wide on the counter attack while Can Uzun missed from six yards out at the other end.
Needing a goal to maintain any chance of progressing, Turkey became increasingly desperate as Gill denied Uzun and Deniz Gul put the rebound off target.
Merih Demiral headed a stoppage-time effort wide and, soon after, Turkey’s World Cup campaign was effectively over.
— with AAP
