Türkiye captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu has delivered a strong statement ahead of their opening World Cup match against Australia, saying he believes his side will “dominate” the Socceroos due to their higher quality and greater talent, News.Az reports, citing ESPN.

Türkiye, nicknamed Ay-Yıldızlılar (the Crescent Stars), are returning to the World Cup for the first time since 2002. They will begin their campaign against Australia before facing Paraguay and the United States in their remaining Group D matches.

The team reached the quarterfinals at the most recent European Championships and has been widely tipped to top Group D, with many expecting them to advance to the knockout stages. Their captain spoke candidly when asked about his assessment of Australia and how Türkiye plan to overcome them.

“Our coach analysed them with us together,” Çalhanoğlu told the media on Friday ahead of Turkey’s final training session before Saturday’s match. “We know that they're a physical team, that they're good on corner kicks and the free kicks, because they are tall and strong.

“But I think that we dominate tomorrow, the game, because we have more qualities and a more talented team, so we will see tomorrow what happens.”

The least heralded of Group D's sides, Australia has already been the recipient of barbs from the United States punditry class, labelled as "average" or "lay-ups" -- remarks that attacker Connor Metcalfe declared he was "sick of" and which standout defender Jordan Bos told ESPN had him "fired up a little bit."

The remarks from the Inter Milan midfielder, thus, will likely raise eyebrows in the Socceroos' camp, with coach Tony Popovic and Aiden O'Neill set to stage their official pre-match news conference later on Friday afternoon.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev