In the quarterfinals of the European Cup that ended on July 7, Beijing time, the Turkish team defeated the Netherlands 1-2 and did not reach the quarterfinals. After the match, Turkey's manager Montella attended the conference and gave a comprehensive and in-depth summary of the team's performance.
Montella began by praising midfielder Günther for his outstanding performance in the match: "Günther played very consistently in this match, which was an extremely valuable experience for him. He is still young, not yet 20 years old, but already shows great potential. I'm sure he'll get even better with experience."
Commenting on the overall performance of the Turkish team in this Europa League, Montella said, "We showed all our strengths and performed very well in the tournament. My colleagues and other soccer practitioners congratulated us, which made us feel very proud. Although today's result is a bit unfortunate, our players did their best."
Montella particularly emphasized the team's youthful strength: "We have a lot of young players who showed amazing mental strength during the game. I am proud of my players, they deserve all the praise and support they can get. After this Europa League, I am sure that Turkish soccer will be respected even more."
Looking ahead, Montella said, "We now need to turn our attention to the UEFA Nations League, which starts in September, and the 2026 World Cup qualifiers that follow. We need to learn from this Europa League and think about what we did well and what we still need to improve."
Montera also reflected on the loss: "We did suffer from a lack of experience in the final stages of the game. If we could have played better in the second half, we could have changed the outcome of the game. But this is soccer, there are victories and defeats. We need to get up from our defeat and move on."
Finally, Montella was confident about the team's future: "This team has great potential and they are gaining experience. I believe the future belongs to us. We will continue to train hard and be ready for the coming matches."
