Following Turkey's defeat against Portugal, Turkish midfielder Ükçek was interviewed to share his thoughts on the match and his personal recovery from injury.
Üzücek began by saying that the loss was frustrating and not expected by the team. He admitted that Turkey conceded against a strong Portuguese team mainly due to their own mistakes. He emphasized that the team needs to learn from this defeat and pointed out that the team's goal is still to get out of the tournament. Despite the loss, Üzücek believes that Turkey's chances are still there and that the key is to forget about this match and prepare for the third leg with full focus.
Talking about his injury situation, Yuksek revealed that he experienced a serious injury earlier and did not play for about 60 days. But now, he feels that he has recovered well. He mentioned that the final decision to play is in the hands of the coach, and the coach made the arrangement to let him play at a later time after considering his situation, which he thought was reasonable. Üzkçek emphasized that he should not interfere with the coach's decisions and that he is recovering gradually. He hopes to get more playing time in the third game, provided the coach gives him a chance.
Speaking about the inability to get the desired result, Üzücek recalled some of the Turkish team's great performances in the past, such as the defeat of Germany in Berlin. He said that these matches showed the level that Turkey can reach when the fighting spirit is high. However, he also admitted that sometimes even when the fighting spirit is high, it does not always lead to a good match result, and today was one such example. Finally, he expressed his hope that the Turkish team will once again show the fighting spirit of the past and achieve good results in the upcoming matches.
