09.06.2025 23:10
The head coach of the national team, Vincenzo Montella, made statements at a press conference before the match against Mexico, alongside national football player Orkun Kökçü. Speaking about the starting eleven, Montella said, "We have young players as well; in the last match, two of our players made their debut, and in this match, there may be players who will wear the jersey for the first time."
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The head coach of the Turkish National Football Team, Vincenzo Montella, stated that they aim to finish the US camp well by winning the match against Mexico and then focus on the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in September.
The national team, which will face Mexico in a friendly match on June 11 in North Carolina, USA, held a press conference at Kenan Stadium, where Vincenzo Montella and national player Orkun Kökçü made statements.
Starting his evaluations by saying, "We need to think of this match as the last match of the season for us," Montella continued, "We came to the USA with our players who are at the end of the season, while they are in the middle of their season. Our opponent tomorrow is tough; they won the last Concacaf. Tomorrow we will face a good opponent, and we want to finish this period well because afterwards, we want to concentrate fully on September. September is very important for us; we want to finish the group in the best way possible. Mexico is a strong team, a squad that has participated in major tournaments since 1990, excluding the last World Cup. They are ranked 17th in the FIFA rankings and have won the Concacaf. Their coach is very experienced, and it will be surprising to face him again after 25 years. Their forwards are in sync with the team. We need to do better than our last match. We want to achieve the best result and showcase our performance," he expressed.
"IT WILL BE FOR OUR PLAYERS WHO MAY WEAR THE JERSEY FOR THE FIRST TIME"
The Italian coach responded to the question, "Will we see changes in the squad tomorrow?" by saying, "We generally play friendly matches to improve ourselves. We have young players as well; two of our players wore the jersey for the first time in the last match, and there may be players who will wear the jersey for the first time in this match too. Overall, I think there shouldn't be too many changes; it should be balanced. If there is a game plan, I believe it would be much better to develop it and evaluate everyone based on that."
THE LATEST STATUS OF INJURIES
In response to the question, "Ahmed Kutucu could not play in the US match due to his injury. What is his current status? Will there be any missing players in the team tomorrow?" Montella said, "Ahmed has definitely returned to training; we only have Eren to resolve, as he couldn't finish the last match very well physically due to the end of the season. We need to evaluate the other players as well; since it is the end of the season, I do not want to risk any of my players; their health is very important to me."
"I PREPARE FOR ALL NATIONAL MATCHES AS IF THEY ARE FINALS"
Montella stated that he prepares for all national matches as if they are finals. Describing the Mexico match as a "final" for him, Montella said, "I prepare for all our national matches as if they are finals. These matches emotionally affect me for a long time. I want to enter the holiday well and achieve the best result. We see the Mexico match as a different test, but as I said, I live it like a final."
In response to the question, "On June 13, 2002, you assisted Del Piero to score a goal in the World Cup, and you defeated Mexico. The coach of Mexico on that day is still in charge today. Can you detail that day?" Montella replied:
"You have revived a memory I had forgotten; that day we passed the round, we knew we would succeed. In fact, strangely, I assisted Del Piero, when it should have been the other way around. We were very upset that we couldn't pass the round after that day, losing to Korea. Our squad was very good; Del Piero, Vieri, Inzaghi, Totti, Cannavaro, Maldini, Nesta... We were very hopeful that we could win the World Cup. That World Cup remains a very painful memory for us."
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