Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Umut Bozok answered the questions of the press members before the work at Koyuncu Grup Kayacık Facilities, where the crescent-star team held their first training session in Konya.
Reminding that they played away with a team like Portugal, Hakan Çalhanoğlu continued as follows:
“We wanted to go to the World Cup, but we couldn’t do it, we’re sorry. We didn’t start the game as we wanted. But our performance in the second half was a reaction. We played well, we got into the game well. We had chances, but we couldn’t take advantage of it. From today on, we will focus on 2024. We will start from today.” together with our teacher. Of course, we need to do a lot of things to improve, we need to work hard. As you can see, we played triple defense for the first time. I am frankly very satisfied with this system. Generally, everyone plays triple defense now. Why shouldn’t we play this system too? “We also have enough players. Hopefully, we will focus on new games from today.”
Hakan Çalhanoğlu answered the question about Burak Yılmaz, who left the national team, as follows:
“I’ve been sharing the national team jersey with Burak for years. I’ve been here since 2013. I love Burak brother very much. Nobody can understand his sadness. He was very upset after the match. He took the responsibility. It’s not an easy responsibility. It would be nice if he scored, of course, but it didn’t happen. This could have been true for all of us. Maybe I could have missed it too. Brother Burak missed it for the first time. It was something that no one expected. Good health. He has been sweating for this jersey for years. He has served, always protected us. He loved us, he counted, nothing. He always wanted to stay by our side. We thank Burak a lot. Of course, we are really sorry that he left us.”
Referring to the special match between Italy and Italy two days later, Hakan Çalhanoğlu said, “Our goal was to face Italy in the final. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. My teammates called, they were very upset. I think it was even more difficult for them. Because they played against Macedonia. They couldn’t pass the round. They couldn’t make it to the World Cup again. We will start from today. We want to beat Italy. The weather in Konya has always been good for us. We have a lot of memories here. We played against France, the Netherlands, Iceland and we always won. Atmosphere Konya It’s always been good in . We will continue to work with the new system we have shown and of course we want to win against Italy.” made its assessment.
“WE PLAYED PERFECTLY IN THE SECOND HALF, BUT IT WAS NOT SUCH”
Umut Bozok, who attended the press conference, stated that they wanted to beat Portugal, but they were sorry that they could not achieve this.
“We wanted to beat. As everyone knows, Portugal is a very talented country and they have quality players. Of course, it was very difficult for us. We had some difficulties especially in the first 15 minutes, but then we came back to ourselves. We played very well. In the second half, we played perfectly but unfortunately it didn’t happen. Good luck.” I hope we can participate in the European Championship with the best of luck.”
Emphasizing that the national team is very harmonious within itself, Umut said, “Of course, the atmosphere within the team is very good. We have very talented and high quality young players. We want to go to the European Championship. That’s why we have to work hard. Why not. We are a very high quality team together with the coach.” Our work will continue in this direction.” he said.
When asked about Burak Yılmaz’s departure from the national team, Umut replied, “I used to watch Burak brother on TV. He is a great forward and an example for all of us. He scored at least 250-300 goals in his career. He put an end to his national career. We are very sad. We are in his place, of course.” “We want to score as many goals as we do. We are very sad that he left after the match. We hope to contribute to our national team with the goals we will score, just like him.” she replied.