The national football team, appearing in the quarter-finals of the European Football Championship for the third time, said goodbye to the tournament after losing 2-1 to the Netherlands last night. The Crescent Stars threatened the Netherlands with some effective play in the first half, but were unable to score a goal in the final minutes of the game, making elimination inevitable. Former national football team player Tunay Torun, who previously played for Super League and Bundesliga teams, provided some important assessments of last night’s game. Torun spoke about his expectations for the next tournament.
A special statement from former international football player Tunay Torun follows below:
“In the second half we leaned back a little too much. We were shocked after the one-on-one.”
It was a very proud feeling to get this far at EURO 2024. I want to thank the players for their legs and their hearts. They played a very successful tournament and made us proud. We must not forget that in yesterday’s game we played against a very difficult opponent. If you look at the game, in the first half we were in very good positions and we scored. We played a really good game. I think in the second half we leaned a little too far back. It’s difficult to play like this for 45 minutes against a team like the Netherlands. Because they have very high quality legs with Depay, Simmons and Gakpo. They have very talented and good players. We knew that the Netherlands had chances in the second half. We defended very well and fought well until we conceded the first goal. After 1-1, the national team experienced something of a shock. This situation was also seen on the field. The players tried to throw the ball a little longer. We could have played a little more comfortably at that time. Also, if we could be a little better in attack, I think it would be better. As we saw in the last minutes, we started to play good football again. After 2-1, we had some clear goal positions. Our players gave their all on the field and the fans in the stands gave their all, but it just didn’t work. We had a really good atmosphere with the fans. We conceded two goals in 10 minutes. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens sometimes in tournaments.
“Barıs-Alper gave defenders like Van Dijk a tough time.”
Barış Alper Yılmaz is a strong and physically gifted player. He always gave difficulties to defenders like Van Dijk. Barış made very important contributions throughout the tournament. He also performed well in the past matches. He showed with his acting that he is a very talented actor. He has made great progress. Barış is exemplary and a great footballer with the level he has reached. Turkey has such special players. That is why I believe that our future in the next tournament is bright. Arda Güler is a very special footballer. Despite his young age, he performed phenomenally when he played for Fenerbahçe. We are all proud that Arda is on such a path. The topic of Arda was a daily topic in Germany. It was not easy for him to carry such a heavy burden at a club like Real Madrid at this age. Even last night after the 2-1 win, he was inspiring the team and always tried to inspire the team. This is a really important feature. The fact that he does these things at this age shows that he has great talent.
“We have to be patient with Montella. Julian Nagelsmann was also eliminated…”
It is not easy for a coach to make decisions during a match. It is difficult to instill a game culture in a national team. Just the fact that Montella has led us this far in the tournament is a great achievement. Montella mainly tried to keep the defense very strong in the match. As you know, the Italian coach prioritizes the defensive zone first. We had problems with the ball in some positions. In my opinion, success does not come in a few games, so patience is needed. For example, Julian Nagelsmann was the new coach of the German national team at the beginning of the season, but they were also eliminated. Still, Germany decided to keep Julian Nagelsmann. Julian Nagelsmann, because he knows how to make the team play. They also count on Mr. Nagelsmann’s patience. That’s why I don’t like to change the coach immediately after a few games or tournaments and things are not going well. It is not actually easy to be a coach. In my opinion, Montella has had great success, despite injuries and the penalty given to Meri Demiral. Maybe we could have experienced more if we could have played in the semi-finals or the finals. Montella’s communication with the players and his harmony with the team was generally very good. You can see that in the players’ reactions. As I said, we need to be patient with Montella. This is really important. We should not be so quick to criticize after losing a tournament or a match. We have a very young and important team on the field. We need to keep the motivation high. No matter what, we must always stand behind them. Unity is necessary in football.
