Turkey finished last in this group with a goal difference of minus-5, behind New Zealand (minus-4).
Expectedly, Paraguay topped Group B with three wins in as many matches, their latest being a 3-1 win over Turkey at the DY Patil Stadium on Thursday.
The South Americans thoroughly dominated Turkey that they are happy with their forward line but a bit concerned with their defence.
Paraguay did concede one goal on Thursday, their fifth of the tournament, making their coach Gustavo Morinigo raise concerns of this department going forward.
Adding to Paraguay’s strength was some fine saves by their goalkeeper Diego Huesca, whose anticipation and glovework showed his mettle. The 17-year-old Huesca is the only Paraguayan to play in the European circuit, having been recruited by Valencia CF in Spain.
Twin strikes within two minutes in the first half were enough to show Paraguay’s dominance. But, they did not rest on their 2-0 half-time cushion and went on the attack in the second half to score one more and top the group to proceed to New Delhi for their pre-quarterfinals on Monday against one of the four better third-placed teams.
Playing his first match of the tournament, Giovanni Bogado impressed in the first half to score Paraguay’s maiden goal. Bogado scored off a free kick in the 41st minute, the ball dipping into the net from top right.
This opened another scoring opportunity two minutes later when Fernando Cardozo flicked in a pass from Blas Armoa from the left, catching the Turkish goalkeeper Berke Ozer off-guard.
After change of ends, in the 61st minute, Paraguay trebled their lead when Antonio Galeano’s left-footer from outside the box found the right corner of the net for his second goal in two matches.
Turkey reduced the margin in the injury time when Keren Kesgin took in the ball all by himself past a couple of Paraguay defenders and made room to unleash a right-footer from the top of the box past a diving
Huesca. It was only the Europeans’ second goal of the tournament.
Turkey finished last in this group with a goal difference of minus-5, behind New Zealand (minus-4).
Earlier, Paraguay, who had already made the second stage before this game with victories against Mali and New Zealand, had a golden chance to march ahead in the very first minute when their forward Armoa was
brought down by Abdussamed Karnucu just inside the box. The resultant penalty kick taken by Anibal Vega, who scored two late goals in three minutes in the previous game against the Kiwis, was saved by Turkey
custodian Berke Ozer diving to his left.
Inside the first 10 minutes, Turkey had a chance on target when Malik Karaahmet took a cross from the left flank Recep Gul and headed straight into Paraguay goalkeeper Diego Huesca’s hands.
Paraguay took no chances going into the knockouts and fielded players with no previous yellow card offence in the tournament. That meant they benched defender Roberto Fernandez, midfielder Braian Odeja and
forward Leonardo Sanchez while their ace mid-fielder Alan Rodriguez was also rested.
Stopwatch: Paraguay 3 (Giovanni Bogado 41, Fernando Cardozo 43, Antonio Galeano 61) bt Turkey 1 (Kerem Kesgin 90+3)
Paraguay, as Group B topper, will play their pre-quarterfinal in New Delhi on October 16 (8pm). Mali, the second-placed team in this group, will play in Goa on October 17 (8pm). While Paraguay will face one of the four better third-place finishers, Mali will take on second-placed team from Group F.
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