Turkey will face Austria in the last round of 16 of this European Championship, fighting for a spot in the quarterfinals. Before the match, Turkey head coach Montella said that the team has already made plans to overcome the absence of captain Çalhanoğlu, who is suspended.
In a fiery match, Turkey beat Czech Republic 2-1, winning their qualification but also paying the price of 11 yellow cards. The consequence is that captain Çalhanoğlu and defender Akdın will miss the round of 16 match against Czech Republic. Speaking about the absence of key players, Montella seemed quite composed, saying: “I always want all the players to be available, but we will have to do without two irreplaceable players, which does bother me a bit, but I believe that there will be players ready to step up and complete their tasks.”
Montella pointed out that the team’s attacking performance in the group stage was a cause for optimism. Turkey has already scored 5 goals, and these were scored by 5 different players, none of them being own goals or penalties. Turkey’s total shots are also ranked third in the tournament, averaging 16.67 shots per game. However, Montella still expressed great respect for the Austrian team, saying: “I think we did very well in terms of scoring and possession, but Austria is an extremely complete team, maybe the best in this tournament. They are very determined in implementing the coach’s intentions on the pitch, they press aggressively and perform well in transitions. They even gave me the feeling of a club team playing, because they are able to adapt to different game situations.”
Montella hopes that “Turkish Messi” Güler can again bring surprises to the team: “Güler is very talented, it’s obvious. He needs to improve on the details of the game, but it’s hard to leave him out, as we see in training, he is one of the best players. When Arda is not there, you can clearly feel his absence.”
This article is from a user submission and does not represent the views of Soccer News Pick. If you repost it, please indicate the source: https://www.soccernewspick.com/uefa-european-championship/5192.html
