Newsletters
Türkiye's national football team held its first training session on Sunday ahead of Monday's UEFA Nations League A Group 1 match against Italy in Bursa, a city in northwestern Türkiye. The match will be the team's second in the group after a 1-0 loss to France in Kocaeli on Saturday.
According to the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), head coach Vincenzo Montella led the session at the Hasan Dogan National Teams' Camp and Training Facility.
Players who started the France match sat out and completed a recovery session, while the rest of the squad worked on passing, tactics and finishing before a half-field tactical drill closed the training.
Orkun Kokcu, who has been unable to train since the start of the camp because of a toe injury, worked separately with a physiotherapist during the session. He also missed the France match.
TFF vice president Mecnun Otyakmaz watched the training from the stands. The team will travel to Bursa by bus on Monday and hold its final session at Yuzuncu Yil Ataturk Stadium, where the match will be held.
Italy, meanwhile, will not bring 10 players from its provisional squad to Türkiye.
The Italian Football Federation said in a statement that head coach Roberto Mancini decided to rest several players, with matches against France in Paris on October 2 and against Türkiye in Bologna on October 5 in mind, to manage the congested schedule and reduce travel for the full squad.
The players staying behind for training in Coverciano are Honest Ahanor, Nicolo Barella, Diego Coppola, Samuele Inacio, Eddy Kouadio, Daniel Maldini, Gianluca Mancini, Massimo Pessina, Samuele Ricci and Muhammed Ali Zoma.
Nicolo Zaniolo also left the camp with Mancini's approval after an injury ruled him out of the Türkiye and France matches.
Italy opened its Nations League campaign with a 2-0 home loss to Belgium in Rome on September 25, in Mancini's first match in charge since taking over in July.
Monday's match at Yuzuncu Yil Ataturk Stadium kicks off at 21:45 local time (18:45 GMT) and will be broadcast live on Türkiye's ATV.
England's Michael Oliver will referee, assisted by compatriots Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring, with Darren England as fourth official.
In the group's other match, Belgium hosts France in Brussels at the same time. Türkiye plays its third group match away to Belgium on October 2.
The match will be the 17th all-time meeting between Türkiye and Italy.
Türkiye has not beaten Italy in the previous 16 encounters, with five draws and 11 losses, scoring 10 goals and conceding 29.
The heaviest defeat came in a 1964 European Championship qualifying match, which Italy won 6-0 in Bologna.
The two sides last met two years ago in a 0-0 friendly in Bologna and are scheduled to meet again on October 5 in Bologna for their fourth Nations League meeting.
Monday's match will also be Türkiye's 656th in its 103-year football history, with the national team recording 260 wins, including one awarded by forfeit, 151 draws and 244 losses.
It will be the 38th match under Montella, an Italian who has overseen 37 matches, 28 official and nine friendly, with 21 wins, 11 losses and five draws since October 2023.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
3 min read
