Turkey men’s national team head coach Vincenzo Montella expressed on Monday that his players are eager to ‘honour’ the massive support they expect during Euro 2024, particularly in their opening match against Georgia.
With many Turkish fans residing in Germany, Turkey’s Group F matches will feel like home games, promising an electric atmosphere for Tuesday’s encounter in Dortmund.
Montella experienced the passionate support firsthand during Turkey’s 3-2 friendly victory over Germany in Berlin last November, marking their first away win against Germany since 1951.
“We’ve already experienced this support having played in Germany. It’s a big responsibility for us. We don’t want to disappoint the Turkish people here nor the ones back home so we’ll honour the flag right to the end,” Montella told reporters.
Highlighting Turkey’s remarkable achievements this year, he added, “We hadn’t won in Germany for 72 years, we hadn’t ever won away against Croatia (before beating them in qualifying) and we managed to do it, so it’s the year of firsts.”
The match will be especially significant for Salih Ozcan, who plays for Borussia Dortmund and will be familiar with the Westfalenstadion.
“It will be like a home match for us, we need to use that support to our advantage,” said Ozcan.
Reflecting on the unique experience, Ozcan remarked, “It will be a particular experience for me to play in this stadium. I hope that it will be red and white on Tuesday, it’ll be a great match that we want to win.”
In addition to Georgia, Turkey will compete against Portugal and the Czech Republic in Group F.
