Turkey’s captain has declared his team “dominated” Sunday’s World Cup opener against the Socceroos, despite their shock 2-0 loss.

The Australian team delivered a masterclass to beat the more highly fancied Turks at Vancouver’s BC Place on Sunday (Australian time), igniting celebrations at home and in Canada.

But Turkish captain Hakan Calhanoglu has raised eyebrows after bizarrely doubling down on a failed pre-game sledge declaring his “more talented” side would dominate Australia.

Asked about his pre-match comments after Sunday’s loss, Calhanoglu said “We didn’t dominate?”

Journalist: “No, I don’t think you did. Possession sure.”

Calhanoglu: “I don’t think they did the same like you. We dominated today, Australia was just behind, defending good.

“Two long goals, they scored. It was our mistakes.

“If you go through the whole 90 minutes, and you don’t score… it means you have to always be focused.

“Never give up because I think we did a good game, just we didn’t score.”

But one of the game’s heroes, Australia’s Nestory Irankunda, wasn’t copping that.

“They came, they did their talking but they couldn’t back it on the field,” Irankunda said in Vancouver.

“We got the win at the end of the day, and people can talk all they want, but if they’re not gonna put a performance out there on the pitch then there’s no point in talking.

“Obviously that gave us fire in our belly. It obviously did piss off a few boys, but at the end of the day, these guys can talk all their sh-t, so we don’t really care.”

Irankunda became Australia’s youngest World Cup scorer with his wonderful goal in the 27th minute on Sunday. After the game, he admitted to nerves – and taking inspiration from the Turkish sledging.

“Yeah, it was extra motivation. Obviously we don’t like to hear people talk bad about us, because we are a great team,” he said.

“They underestimated us a lot and we showed them that we can play. Obviously they kept the ball a lot more, but who scored the goals? We scored the goals.

“We showed them that we can play football.”

While Turkey had more possession on Sunday, Australia was organised, uncompromising and desperate in defence, then aggressive in springing attacks itself.

Young goalkeeper Patrick Beach (who replaced dropped skipper Matt Ryan) made eight saves, the most by a Socceroos goalkeeper at a World Cup, including some world-class efforts.

Irankunda was man of the match with his explosive, daring performance, with he and Connor Metcalfe scoring terrific goals.

Meanwhile, another sledge has emerged from Sunday’s game, this time from Turkey’s superstar playmaker Arda Guler. The Real Madrid ace was overhead in the tunnel telling his teammates in the tunnel “we are much better than them” — before being left furious at the humiliating defeat.

“First of all, congratulations to Australia. They took their chances, and we didn’t. But I won’t lie, it’s difficult to accept some of the decisions tonight. There were moments where many were handball calls, yet play continued,” he said after the match.

“I’m not saying that’s the only reason we lost, but those moments can change the flow of a match. The referee saw things differently, and we have to respect that, even if we don’t agree.

“At the end of the day, we also have to look at ourselves. We didn’t create enough chances, we didn’t defend well enough, and Australia punished us. The fans have every right to be frustrated. We are frustrated too. We will learn from this, come back stronger, and make sure this result doesn’t define our tournament.”

The Socceroos have returned to their Oakland base to step up preparations for Friday’s game against the United States in Seattle.

-with AAP