They say, all’s well that ends well and that is what Turkiye has done in their last match against the USA at the World Cup.
Already out of contention, the Turkish boys came with an aim – to go back home with their heads held high and to take back some of the lustre of the refulgent US stars.
And they did just that, and would you believe it, in the last seconds of the added time of the second half.
Once more, the age-old line: it’s never the end, until the end, stands vindicated.
Turkey had a disappointing start to the World Cup when they lost their first match against Australia by 2-0 – something pundits did not see coming.
Before the match, one would have predicted a draw with the boys form Down Under or, a win given Turkiye’s previous World Cup history.
If we jog our memory, they went to the semi-finals in 2002, losing by a solitary goal to eventual winners, Brazil and then, bagged the third spot beating South Korea 3-2.
That Turkiye team had the legendary Hakan Sukur plus the heartthrob of millions of female football fans, the goalkeeper, Rustu.
After the 2002 World Cup, Turkiye football team developed a large following in Bangladesh too.
Coming back after 24 years, football fans who saw the team in 2002 were expecting a spark from them but as bad luck would have it, the side floundered in their first two matches.
They could have made a comeback after the debacle against Australia but a lone goal defeat against Paraguay sealed their fate.
But as they say, if you go out then leave with a bang and never with a whimper!
The high-flying USA was brought down to earth although the boys from the Stars and Stripes began with marked conviction, scoring within the first two minutes.
Then, a US defender made the howlers of all howlers – he took too long to clear a ball inside the small D box.
By the time he made his desperate shot, it hit an advancing Turkish player and the ball bounced into the net with the US goalkeeper failing to save it with a dive.
Once more, the dire consequence of taking a second too long to clear the ball inside the D box!
The Scots committed the same mistake against Brazil!
Turkiye came back with two spectacular goals but the US equalised and the match was headed for a 2-2 draw with an added seven minutes after the stipulated 90 minutes.
The commentators were already resigned to the result, saying: this is now the end, and we have a pulsating draw.
But the last minute of added time, from a corner, the ball was received and crossed by a Turkiye player which was nicked in by a team-mate, silencing the large partisan crowd and sending the few Turkish fans into a frenzy.
Good things always to those who wait goes the saying and what a way it was proved on the field.
Upsets make the World Cup more appealing with Germany humbled by none other than Ecuador leaving many to react: What!!!
This writer had predicted a 2-0 victory for the Germans and stands corrected.
Eating crow is the right idiom.
Ecuador team has come to the biggest sporting extravaganza with the shadow of drug cartel related violence, economic woes and the spectre of extortion.
But their win against fancied Germany will work as a soothing balm for a country beleaguered with too many problems.
Just to jog your memory, Germany has been brought down in the past by unfancied teams, notably, in 1982 World Cup where they were beaten 2-1 by debutantes Algeria.
Germany began the campaign with a calculated shredding of minnows Curacao and then, winning against Ivory Coast, but in the third match, they stumbled, proving that no matter how immaculate you appear one day, there will be another day when all strategies will prove to nothing.
In the end, destiny is the final arbiter – the invisible force which looks down from up there and makes the final call.
And that’s how the World Cup will progress, proving most predictions wrong.
Finally, two sides will make it to the grand match on 19 July, and yes, in the clash of the Titans, the luckier side goes home with the trophy.
