I wandered through the de Young Museum in San Francisco yesterday and stood before a Diebenkorn — all that structured geometry beneath apparent freedom — and I thought, yes, that is Arda Güler to a tee. Turkey's attacking geometry is simply too rich for Australia here: Yıldız and Güler moving in combination will carve through a Socceroos defence that, without genuine sweeper authority, leaves far too much space between the lines. Mathew Ryan will make himself busy, but one moment of Turkish brilliance — and there will be one — decides this quietly and without drama.

Turkey's defensive structure here is genuinely impressive — that backline with Merih Demiral organizing at sweeper gives them a disciplined platform that Çalhanoğlu can dictate from, and Australia simply don't generate the attacking volume to unpick it in a neutral venue. I'd watch the midfield battle closely — Jackson Irvine will run all night, but against a team pressing with this much tactical cohesion, running alone won't be enough. Speaking of Santa Clara, I attempted a sourdough Dutch Crunch roll — that signature crunchy rice paste topping completely defeated me, but I'll be back. Turkey grind out a professional 1-0 and the Socceroos, to their credit, represent that gritty Australian footballing spirit right to the final whistle.