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Vincenzo Montella’s contract as head coach of the Turkish National Football Team has been extended by two years.
The signing ceremony took place at the TFF Hasan Dogan National Teams Facility with TFF President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, board members and Montella in attendance.
“Our coach was already in charge of the National Team before we took office, and we’ve continued with him since. Though he’s Italian, sometimes when we talk, it feels like he’s become one of us, a 'Turk'. During the USA match, he watched the game with his daughter and her school friends, even had them wear Türkiye jerseys. His joy after the match was like that of Mehmet’s daughter in Trabzon.
They celebrated in the same way. This shows that we might soon make Montella a Turkish citizen. He has played an important role in building this young squad. He has created a wonderful college-like atmosphere with the players, almost like a family environment. The players love him, too. We believe that where there is love, there will be success.”
Head coach Vincenzo Montella stated that their full focus is on qualifying for the World Cup.
Montella, who said they aim to do their best every time, spoke as follows:
“We have been here for less than two years, and during this time, as far as I know, we have watched 689 matches in stadiums. Working with my team on these efforts has allowed us to achieve many firsts and given us these opportunities. After 16 years, we qualified for the European Championship and, for the first time, finished top of our group there. After 72 years, we won against Germany on their own soil.
We were able to accomplish these things thanks to everyone’s effort. Our minds are completely focused on the World Cup qualifiers. We are in one of the toughest groups. We know we must perform at our best every time. Spain is a very strong team. Georgia defeated Portugal. Bulgaria is also continuously aiming for the best. Our entire concentration is on the qualifiers. We aim to reach the big dreams we want by delivering our best performance.”
Montella, who said that continuing as the National Team coach is his biggest dream in this project, expressed that since coming to Türkiye, he has been able to experience his emotions more freely and that there is no strategy behind this.
Montella emphasized that Arda Guler can perform in any position at Real Madrid and touched on the transfer rumors about Hakan Calhanoglu, highlighting the importance of his players being happy.
“I would definitely love to have Turkish citizenship, but I know I need to learn Turkish. Be careful when I speak Turkish around you because I’ve started to understand it. I have received a few offers, but they weren’t very important to me. When you’re working in the right environment, other offers don’t affect you much or even make you think twice. I prefer to be where I am happy.''
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