Degenek Prepares Third World Cup Start in Turkey Vs Australia
Turkey vs Australia opens Group D at B.C. Place on Saturday at 9 p.m., and Australia arrives with Miloš Degenek set for his third World Cup. The 32-year-old centreback said he wishes he had the carefree mentality of younger players, a useful lens on a squad that has been to six straight World Cups but still enters as the lower-ranked side.
B.C. Place on Saturday night
Australia will play Turkey at B.C. Place on Saturday at 9 p.m. in its World Cup opener, a first test in a group that also includes Paraguay and the United States. Australia is ranked 27th globally, while Turkey is 22nd.
Degenek made the personal scale of the moment clear with a line that fits a player returning to the same stage after years of grinding: “Every World Cup is different. This is my third one. It’s unbelievable, you know.” He added, “I dreamed of (playing in) one. I had two, I’ve got three. In four years, we’ll talk again, I’ll have four … no, I’m just kidding.”
Miloš Degenek and Australia
His experience sits at the center of Australia’s case. Degenek said, “It’s phenomenal, you know. I can’t wait for it to start, but I can’t wait to see the boys who’ve not been to one yet to see how it impacts them.” That split matters because Australia is bringing older tournament mileage into a Group D field that has been described as highly competitive.
Turkey adds a sharp edge to the opener. It reached the tournament through the European World Cup playoffs and is undefeated in eight games, while the United States has a 2-2-1 record against Turkey. Paraguay sits in the same group at 41st, after its B team lost 2-1 to the United States in the November window and Paraguay beat Mexico 2-1 in the same window.
Group D pressure
The numbers leave Australia with the most difficult opening profile in the group: 27th in the rankings against 22nd-ranked Turkey, plus a team that has not lost in eight matches. Degenek’s own view of the gap between experience and youthful looseness also hangs over the match, because he said, “Mate, to be honest, I think it’s a lot easier, because sometimes when you’re younger, you just don’t care, you know?”
He finished the thought with the line that may travel best into Saturday night: “The boys just go out and just like, ‘oh, it is what is, it’s just another game.’ And sometimes I wish I was like that. I wish I had that mentality.” For Australia, that is the challenge at B.C. Place — matching Turkey’s current form while leaning on World Cup experience that few teams in Group D can claim.
