National Football Team Coach Sergen Yalçın: We are happy with the fight

Sergen Yalçın made a statement to the press after the match played at Gürsel Aksel Stadium in Izmir.

Stating that they were very well prepared for the match, the 54-year-old coach said, "We did not want to lose. We were well concentrated. The children fought well throughout the match. You play with very tough teams in this group. We started the game well. We had based the system on getting the ball down. We have talented and good-footed players. We started the match with front-field press. This pressure yielded results until the first 20-30 minutes. We also found the goal. We gave the game to the opponent between 30-45." he said.

Stating that Belgium is a good team, Yalçın said, "They turned the positions they found into goals. There has been a defensive weakness in the national team for a long time. We tried to solve this a little. We took the game advantage in some parts of the match. The opponent also took the game advantage in some parts. We could have saved the game. We could have also scored points. We are happy with the fight. We are also very happy with a certain part of the match. We need to extend this over a longer period of time. We will recover it over time." he said.

Sergen Yalçın stated that national football player Arda Güler scored a perfect goal and said, "Arda already played a game worthy of his quality and power. He was one of the best players in our team. His goal was also perfect." he said.

Referring to playing Oğuz Aydın at right back, Yalçın said, "I have said before that we cannot play Zeki Çelik for 90 minutes. He has just recovered from his injury. Jeremy Doku, who plays on that side of the opponent, is a very good football player. He was Belgium's best player. In my opinion, he was one of the most important architects of Belgium's victory. Oğuz is also a quick and strong player. I thought Oğuz would fight more there and we would stand firmer. I thought Oğuz would fight more there and we would stand firmer." I am pleased with its performance." He commented:

"It has a college team atmosphere"

Sergen Yalçın said that there is a very nice atmosphere of friendship in the National Team.

Emphasizing that the national team consists of very good players, the experienced coach continued as follows:

"We have missing players. We have players who have just returned from injury and are not fully ready. We have experienced these problems. If we had spread the part we played well into the match more, the result could have been different. We have very clear positions. We also had unlucky times. There is a great camaraderie inside. They are all brilliant kids. There is the atmosphere of a college team. There are also minor problems, but we can solve them over time. We played the match with only 2 days of training. It is not easy to play such a fast-paced game at this level. This is a very high level. Belgium is a very active team. We could not respond to this activity in some parts and we are sorry. The fight, the desire and the desire were very good, we will get to a much better place.

Sergen Yalçın explained that the national team has been conceding goals easily for a long time and said, "Defense is not done only by the defenders. At these levels, the team defense needs to be very good. We had difficulty defending in some departments. It is normal at these levels. There is no goal without a mistake in football. Our players can also make mistakes during the match. We will work with the players. We want to look at this match from a positive perspective. This match can bring us a lot in the future." he said.

Stating that the most important player of the team is Arda Güler, Yalçın said, "Arda plays in the center and directs all attacks. He solves many things in the attack. The work he does is very important for us, but our other players also need to help us with the solution. Arda takes the necessary responsibility. Some players have injury problems. Of course, there will be a burden on Arda's shoulders because he is the best player of the team." made his assessment.

Mark van Bommel: We recovered quickly and came back

Belgium coach Mark van Bommel said that they recovered quickly after falling behind and took control of the game and achieved the victory.

Making a statement at the press conference held after the match played at Gürsel Aksel Stadium, Van Bommel said, "Turkey started the match with a very fast preliminary pressure. I congratulate them for the free-kick goal they scored. After falling behind, we recovered quickly and came back. Especially in the second half, we took control of the game, but in general we lost a lot of balls. The opponent also wanted to win, they had a new coach, but we were good in defense and did not make any mistakes." he said.

Responding to a question about Leandro Trossard, who plays for Beşiktaş, to whom he gave a chance in the second half, the Dutch coach said, "Trossard is a very intelligent player, he can play between the lines, he is fit and he can also play on the wings. He brought calmness back to the team, he also has the ball. He showed a good performance today. Belgian players can play in every league. There are good players like Trossard and Lukaku in the Super League." made his assessment.

Mark van Bommel underlined that Jeremy Doku was one of the prominent players of the match and said, "Doku played very well, he was smart, fast and knew how to take risks. He knew when the ball would come to him, thought in advance and knew what his next step would be." he said.

Van Bommel added that the ground was bad and this negatively affected their games.