Vincenzo Montella: "Polemics make us more ambitious"

Türkiye defeated Georgia 3-2 away in the first match of Group E of the FIFA 2026 World Cup European Qualifiers. Following the match, national football team manager Vincenzo Montella assessed the match at a press conference.

Montella, who stated that they dominated the match until the red card, said, "Actually, we were down to 10 men. We were in the game up until that moment; it was a game we dominated. Then, in an unfortunate situation, Barış was shown a red card. There's no blame on Barış here. On the contrary, unfortunately, such things happen in football. Barış is a player who always sacrifices for the team, runs, fights, and gives his all. That's how we prepared. Looking at recent matches, we've seen them pull back a midfielder and build up play. We've seen them keep the left-back in play. So, nothing happened outside of our preparation."

"THE FIRST MATCHES ARE THE DIFFICULT MATCHES"

Montella emphasized that the first matches in these types of events are the toughest, saying, "They were two different matches. Every match is different. We struggled today, and we struggled after an unfortunate second-half position. We also struggled against Georgia in the European Championship in the second half. So, congratulations are due. It shows how organized they are, how knowledgeable they are, and how open to constant improvement they are. The first matches in these types of events are the toughest. I'm very, very happy to get this win. We're progressing step by step. We're taking our opponents one by one. When we work, we focus on our opponents' strengths. We know what we can do. We have the weapons at our disposal. That's why the match hasn't even been played yet. The weapons we have can put our opponents in a difficult position."

"POLEMICS MAKE US MORE AMBITIOUS"

The Italian coach, stating that the team has a family atmosphere and that the news has made them even more ambitious, said, "We had a national week. We won in basketball and women's volleyball. We won too. I want to congratulate them for making us happy. The controversy makes us smile and motivates us. It makes us even more ambitious. We have a group that loves each other. There's a real family atmosphere. In fact, I have to say, even just a week of training camp makes me sad. Because when I see them together and witness their joyful moments, we're so happy. There are all sorts of controversy. Everyone's saying something. They've released an old video. All of this makes us even more ambitious."

"I DID NOT WANT TO SPEND THE LAST 30 MINUTES LIKE THIS"

Asked about playing with 10 men for half an hour and how this would affect the Spain match to be played in Konya, Montella said:

"If it were up to me, I wouldn't want to experience such a moment. I wouldn't want to spend the last 30 minutes like this. These kinds of situations happen in football. That's why we will be looking at the situation of all our players and making our tactical and technical assessments. It's also worth adding that we have a team that played with heart in the last 30 minutes, playing with dedication and unity. So, I congratulate them on this victory."

"WE HAVE A MATCH AGAINST THE EUROPEAN CHAMPION. WE ARE AWARE OF THIS"

Stating that they will play against the last European champion, Montella concluded his words as follows:

"I'm a very balanced person. I always try to stay balanced. Of course, I understand you, and I think you're obligated to ask this question. We have a match against the European champions. We're aware of that. Even though we're playing against them, we'll work on their strengths, but we also know that with the weapons we have, we can give them a hard time and achieve what we want. When we study teams, we don't just focus on their strengths. Every team has its flaws, and we'll look at those flaws as well. We'll do whatever we can."