Coach Vincenzo Montella of the National Football Team, which won the match against North Macedonia 4-0 within the scope of the preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, said that he was satisfied with the performance of the players.
In his statement at the press conference held after the match, Montella touched on the performance of Can Uzun, Aral Şimşir and Deniz Gül and said, “I am very pleased with their performance. Nothing went beyond our expectations. We knew that they would give such a performance. They are players who take time in their own clubs. I felt a special happiness for them. All football players have different characteristics. You can change them from match to match. I am trying to plan the future here. I know it is important to give such a chance to young people. While Can Uzun was in the second league, Kenan Yıldız was Juventus’ second player. “I was calling them while I was playing in the team. We need to integrate all the players gradually. Can Uzun and Deniz Gül started playing with me. I believe in them, they wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe them.” he said.
Saying that they will try to make the players with fitness problems ready for the first match in the World Cup, the experienced coach said, “We have about two weeks. We have players like Kenan, Hakan and Kerem who need to find their fitness. Arda is one of them. We saw a very important half hour for him today. We have football players with minor problems like Ferdi. We have not been able to train him yet. We have time until the first match. We will try to get these players close to 100 percent, if not 100 percent. I hope.” “Everyone will be 100 percent ready, but we may have to wait for some.” he said.
Explaining that they chose to play a friendly match with North Macedonia because it is a team similar to Australia, one of the national team’s rivals in the World Cup, the Italian coach said, “No team will be exactly the same, but we chose Macedonia because we knew there were similarities and that Australia would also play with five players. It was important for us to play at a fast pace. I was happy to see the seriousness of our football players.” He commented:
Stating that they need to quickly adapt to the camp conditions in the USA, Montella said, “I am lucky that I do not play in hot weather conditions. We need to get used to the weather conditions there immediately. We will prepare in the best way possible in the shortest time.” he said.
Montella responded to the allegations that he wanted to coach a club team after the World Cup by saying, “I don’t even want to comment. All my energy is for the national team. I also told my manager that if someone calls, don’t bring it to me. My only thought is the national team.” he replied.
