Our Women's National Team will host Slovenia at Pendik Stadium on Friday, October 9, in the first match of the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup European Qualifications play-off 1st round. The match will start at 19.00. Our national team will play the rematch with Slovenia away on Tuesday, October 13.
Necla Güngör Kıragası, Coach of our Women's National Team, made evaluations to Spor Arena reporter Selen Cansu Aksoy about the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup European Qualifications play-off round. While Kıragası evaluated rival Slovenia; He made a confession about the Pendik Stadium where the match will be played.
We are in the play offs of the 2027 Women's World Cup. How is the atmosphere within the team?
"The atmosphere within the team is wonderful. All our players came to our camp with confidence and now they are pushing themselves and pushing us to achieve a first. They are pushing us hard in the selection of the squad, and at the same time they are giving us signals about how they will fight against Slovenia and how they will challenge their opponents. As always, we are having a good camp process with our family atmosphere."
“WORLD CUP IS OUR BIG DREAM”
If we go to the World Cup, this team and you will achieve historical success. What do you feel?
"How do I feel about this squad and the historic success if we go to the World Cup? I am very excited. I hope the process continues in a positive way, but no matter what the result is, women's football is the winner. Because reaching an unimaginable point, playing the play offs on the path to the World Cup, and fighting well against very strong opponents is already a very important achievement for us.
We started here six years ago with a big dream. This is also a big dream of ours. Now, of course, it is our great desire to get closer to this dream step by step and to achieve big goals with the small steps we take. I hope we will be the ones laughing in the end, but first of all, I am very proud to be a part of this team. I'm just part of this team. Those who create this mosaic are my players. I hope that in the end, we will be the ones who really laugh and this feeling will continue exponentially.”
“WHAT KIND OF TEAM IS SLOVENIA?”
What kind of national team will we watch in the Slovenia match? How are you preparing against Slovenia?
"We need to explain Slovenia a little bit first. The Slovenia team is a team that has been playing together for years, has a young squad, but also plays in very ambitious leagues abroad, with very high quality feet, playing in the Italian, English, French and German leagues. We know the game mentality of their coaches very well. They are an athletic team that likes to put pressure at the front, and we are aware that especially that quartet at the front is very dangerous.
We have now taken precautions accordingly. If you look at the advantages of our team, we are going through a process in which we defend very well in the second zone of the game, can complete transitions from defense to attack, and can further improve our tactics with the game knowledge of our players, especially on the wings, who are open to variations. That's why we are working on a project where we can use our own tactics on Slovenia without hesitation.”
“WE BELIEVE IN THE PROSPECT OF PENDIK STADIUM”
You will play the first match against Slovenia in Istanbul first. What advantage will this bring to you?
"I think it is an advantage for us to play the first match against Slovenia in Istanbul. Yes, maybe the second match will be more stressful. We will go away and get tired, but when we get an advantageous score here, it will be valuable for us to achieve this with the power of our fans. Our players especially wanted the Pendik Stadium. We believe very much in the good luck of this stadium. Because we have never been defeated here.
Frankly, we see Pendik Stadium as our facility in Riva national teams, and we have a fan group there as well. We want to get a good result with their support. “I hope Pendik Stadium will be successful again and we will be the winners again.”
And finally, how do you see the situation of women's football in our country now compared to the past?
"I have to give a very long answer for the last question. When you compare the situation of women's football in our country with the past, we can clearly see that it is in a very serious development. This is especially evident in the report we issue every year on athletic performance and tactical development. Our data has almost doubled. This is not only in terms of running distance.
When you look at the sprint distance we do, the number of sprints we do and our high-energy metabolic work, a very serious difference emerges. It has become much easier for a team that is rising in athletic terms to reflect tactical variations on the field compared to the past. We also have a well-established squad, which we expand further by adding a new player every camp and warming him up.
We also have a group of players who are both young and experienced, whom we convince them of and make a great contribution to in the process. Naturally, there is a huge difference when we compare the past and the present. Is this enough for the top countries in Europe right now? Not. But if we have reached the 45th and 46th places, from where we were in the 69th place in the past, this means increasing our athletic performance, benefiting and improving the tactical development of our players, and most importantly, I think, mentally, the fact that the players can easily overcome the obstacles on their way to the goal, actually points to three important points that we value very much in terms of development.
And I think this development will also receive more support. I also think we will get this wind. That's why I think the Slovenia matches are actually a very important breaking moment for women's football. Just like our draw in Sinop in the match against Switzerland. We had a draw there against a team that played in the A league and took part in European Championships and World Cups. "On Friday, we will fight very well against a team like Slovenia, which has also played in the A league, and this time we will want to win, so I think we will actually push aside these breaking points, one of the obstacles on that road."
