Coach Sergen Yalçın and one of the players, Enes Ünal, of the National Team, which will face Belgium in Izmir tomorrow in the 5th match of the UEFA Nations A League, made statements at the press conference held before the match.
Sergen Yalçın used the following statements in his statements:
"Let me explain the issue of Arda Okan Kurtulan. Actually, he was in our squad. We were going to include him in the squad for these 2 matches, but he cannot play in the national team as a matter of procedure. Because he did not choose the Turkish National Team, he cannot play. We stated that. These transactions are done with documents. These things do not happen over the phone. This is what we call documents. We did not know this either. Therefore, this issue requires a while. We had him searched by the TFF. He needs to write a petition and the procedures must begin. This is also a process. In the short term, "This procedure has not been completed. He will be in our player pool in the next period. It was overlooked by us and the technical team before us. We talked to him and said that he would prefer the Turkish National Team."
INJURY STATEMENT
"When we were working at Beşiktaş, we won two trophies in four days here. Maybe it could be a very auspicious stadium for us. Naturally, we are excited. We are playing our first national match. It is very valuable for us to be here. Being at the head of the national team. Our responsibilities are very high. In other words, we have responsibilities towards the country and all our citizens. We are aware of this. We have prepared well in this short period."
"We tried to make small touches. In other words, the process is very short for two matches. As you know, we cannot use some of our players in this camp, including Kenan. We removed Aral. He is not ready for two matches either. I am talking about tomorrow's match. The possibility of Zeki starting is very difficult. Maybe we can use Zeki in a 20-30 minute period."
"And we have three or four new players coming out of injury. We have players who cannot be 100 percent physically, but we will use them in certain parts of the game. First of all, let me say that. But as I said, being here, I don't know, being in the national team of the country, that is, being with you. I am a fan of looking very positive, let me tell you that."
“I HOPE IT WILL BE A GOOD START”
We hope it's a good start for tomorrow. Our situation in the group is clear. You all know our situation in the group. But we have a play-out situation if a point or points are achieved. If we can pull it off. But the kids are all concentrated. They are good, we prepared well, we prepared mentally. We tried to make small touches. "I hope tomorrow will be a good start, a good game, the beginning of a new story."
“WE MADE ALL OUR PLANS TO WIN”
"So what would be our dream game right now in such a short period of time? We will see him tomorrow when the match starts. But of course, I always talk about long-term plans. European Championship. Because there is a World Cup. We signed a long contract. These places are very valuable to us. Isn't this place valuable? Of course, this place is also valuable.
We made all our plans to win tomorrow. Let me say that first. Because we definitely need to get three points so that we can stay in Group A. Maybe we will play a play-off match, if we can get three points. This is very valuable to us. It is also very important to stay in this group. Because when we play with such high-level teams, we can see our own level more clearly. We can raise this even higher.
Playing with these teams in this group is also very valuable for player development. We have new young players. We have new young players coming. We are making a long plan program. I think this group is much more suitable to bring them here and raise their level, but after all, this is football, of course. None of us know what the result will be, but I think our team is well concentrated and well prepared for tomorrow. We will see the rest together tomorrow.
You were wondering if there was a centre-forward, I brought it when I came, there is. Enes will start, the center forward is with us."
“WE GIVE A MESSAGE TO YOUNG PLAYERS”
"We have made some changes in the selection of the squad. When I say change, there has been a lot of speculation about the players in the past. Let me give you some information about them. We have a large pool, a pool of players. So, when choosing our players, we choose from this pool and, as I said, there is a well-established national team squad. In other words, an eighty percent of the team is already here. They will be fixed because it is an ossified group. Twenty percent may change. Depending on what? It may change according to the performance and we can make some choices according to the performance and there are young players. Like the goalkeeper of Kocaelispor, we are giving a message to the young players in Galatasaray as well. This jersey is hanging here. If you are qualified and your performance is high, you can come here.
“I don't think it's right to evaluate the incident individually. We did not come here to satisfy our personal tastes. The reason we came here is to make our citizens happy, to take Turkish football to the top, to play good games, and to gain appreciation from all the people. We will be able to do this in a while. But when is the deadline? I don't know about that. Now you know the national matches. We play two matches in six days and we are together with the players for the first time. It is not easy to change some things in football. But we tried to make small touches. Mentally, I don't know, we tried to make some touches as a game. Here is the question you always wonder about, we are playing without a centre-forward. No, we brought the center forward with us. We will play with the center forward here. “We will make some differences in that game.”
“THEY MAY BE SORRY, THERE ARE 25 MORE PLAYERS WHO ARE SORRY”
"İrfan Can Kahveci is a player in the large squad of our national team. He may have been upset that he wasn't cast. However, there are 25 players who are upset. Let's not take it individually. We chose a squad for these 2 matches. What we expect is respect. We try to choose the right staff by doing serious research. İrfan Can has always been a player of our national team. He didn't come to this camp, but he might come to the next camp. His performance is getting better. Hopefully it will be better. I have no ill intentions towards anyone. There are crowds in the staff in some areas. 26 people is an ideal squad for a 2-match period. Also, I don't want him to bring a national team player and watch the match in the stands. They are all valuable players. Then they get more upset. Their morale is deteriorating. If we are short, we call someone immediately."
