WHAT\u2019S IN A NAME?<\/p>\n
When Turkey<\/a> changed to T\u00fcrkiye in 2022, president Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan announced it was because the new name was \u201cthe best representation and expression of the Turkish people\u2019s culture, civilisation, and values.\u201d The rebrand, though, also had a less lofty reason. \u201cThe association with the bird genuinely annoys Erdo\u011fan and the people around him,\u201d explained Selim Koru of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, while even state broadcaster TRT conceded that the loose-necked Christmas bird was at least a factor in the revamp.<\/p>\n And although getting names right is important \u2013 just ask the good folk at Starbucks \u2013 some things never change. Save for the 2002 tournament in which the country finished a remarkable third, Turkey\/T\u00fcrkiye have an absolutely dreadful record when it comes to the World Cup \u2013 with 2026 being just their third appearance at a finals \u2013 and now they are out again after two miserable defeats to the flamin\u2019 Socceroos and Paraguay. The latter was made all the more painful by the fact that the South American side played for more than a half with 10 men, after former Newcastle scuttler Miguel Almir\u00f3n became the first player to be shown a red card for covering his mouth while speaking to an opponent. \u201cWe should have won these games \u2026 everybody\u2019s sad, everybody\u2019s crying<\/a>,\u201d sobbed umlaut enthusiast\/Turkish wonderkid Arda G\u00fcler, who alongside Juventus\u2019s Kenan Yildiz, it had been hoped might inspire his nation to come good on their \u201cdark horses\u201d tag. \u201cWe tried very hard \u200cbut it didn\u2019t work. But we should have scored some goals.\u201d<\/p>\n Paraguay\u2019s Mat\u00edas Galarza struck the GWC\u2019s fastest goal with a stunning ping after just 65 seconds, before Turkey\/T\u00fcrkiye laid siege to their opponents. But La Albirroja survived despite enduring more shots than a busy vaccination centre. In all there were 32 Turkish attempts on Paraguay\u2019s goal, adding to their 30 fruitless shots against Australia in their opening match \u2013 the 62 shots combined are the most without a goal in any two-match span in the World Cup on record. \u201cSomehow the ball didn\u2019t go in,\u201d \u2060wailed Vincenzo Montella, Turkey\/T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s Italian manager. \u201cIt\u2019s really shocking to say goodbye \u200cto the [Geopolitics] World Cup \u200cafter only two matches. Perhaps, even unconsciously, the pressure of playing in a major tournament after such a long absence affected us.\u201d<\/p>\n The fallout to elimination is yet to be established. Heads will surely roll, but does the rebrand now need a rebrand? Not everyone can enjoy the same generational reboot as Football Daily. But then our name isn\u2019t also a domesticated flightless bird as well as being a Cambridge English Dictionary\u2019s definition<\/a> of both \u201csomething that fails badly\u201d and a \u201csilly person\u201d. Hard luck, Turkey\/T\u00fcrkiye. See you again in four years. Maybe.<\/p>\n LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE<\/p>\n John Brewin blasts off our minute-by-minute coverage with the Netherlands 2-2 Sweden at 6pm BST (1pm EDT) before Will Unwin relishes the thrills of Germany 1-0 C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire from 11pm (6pm EDT). Alexander Abnos will then deliver updates from Ecuador 3-0 Cura\u00e7ao (8pm EDT, Sun 1am BST) before Jonathan Howcroft is your party host for Tunisia 1-3 Japan (midnight EDT, Sun 5am BST).<\/p>\n QUOTE OF THE DAY<\/p>\n \u201cI am deeply ashamed \u2060to have been the vehicle for this pain. I must clarify that this false information was provided to me during the live broadcast as verified \u200bby the production team of the show, and I trusted \u200cit. Even so, I take responsibility for \u200cbeing part of the mistake, and that\u2019s why I decided to step aside and end my participation. I apologise again \u200cfrom the heart; I was wrong\u201d \u2013 Argentinian host Florencia Pe\u00f1a resigns and issues an apology<\/a>, blaming the crew for feeding incorrect \u2060information via her earpiece, after announcing on air that Lionel Messi\u2019s father, Jorge, had died and that the player would not play any further matches at the tournament.<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED BOOKMARKING<\/p>\n If our shiny GWC Golden Boot page<\/a> wasn\u2019t enough for you, we\u2019ve now only gone and built an all-time World Cup top goalscorers page<\/a> too.<\/p>\n double quotation markWhen did it become a thing for the refereeing team to have their names on the backs of their shirts? I\u2019m amazed that Fifa isn\u2019t looking to cash in by selling replicas\u201d \u2013 Phil Taverner.<\/p>\n double quotation markRe: yesterday\u2019s Football Daily<\/a>. Please, up your game! Australian rules football and American football do not play with anything egg-shaped. It\u2019s a prolate spheroid. How different the game would be (could it even exist?) if it were\u201d \u2013 Kate Clements.<\/p>\n double quotation markRe: Trevor Wastell and US commentary (yesterday\u2019s Football Daily letters<\/a>). I am lucky to speak Spanish but, even if I did not, anyone who would watch football in the USA USA USA (or anywhere else) in any other language is off their rocker. Also, one needs only the barest anglicised Spanglish to get the gist. Luckily for United Statesians, Peacock TV are showing my home nation\u2019s characteristic enthusiasm for multilingual audiences, with the basic subscription having thrown in streaming of every GWC partido en Espa\u00f1ol, much like they would reruns of \u2018Betty la Fea\u2019 or \u2018Mar\u00eda la del Barrio\u2019. I almost hear NBC suits saying: \u2018Who would be watching this? I can\u2019t even understand it!\u2019 Highly recommended\u201d \u2013 Thad Brown.<\/p>\n Telemundo\u2019s offering, where it\u2019s at. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com<\/a>. Today\u2019s prizeless letter o\u2019 the day is \u2026 Thad Brown. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here<\/a>.\u200a<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED LISTENING<\/p>\n It\u2019s day nine in the Big Brother Football Weekly house \u2013 Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the rest of the pod squad<\/a> for their latest offering from LA.<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED WATCHING<\/p>\n