Following Türkiye’s 1-0 defeat to Mexico in a friendly match played at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, A National Football Team Technical Director Vincenzo Montella addressed the media, reflecting on the game and the team’s U.S. training camp.
“We fought against a team of players who are in the middle of their season,” Montella stated, acknowledging a physical disparity. “We can feel the difference physically. Despite everything, we had three times more shots than the opponent. Unfortunately, only the hit rate was low.”
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Montella lamented the solitary goal conceded, which came late in the first half. “We conceded a wrong goal while everyone was behind the ball in the first half. This gave us experience. We shouldn’t make these mistakes.”
Despite the loss, the Italian coach found positives from the camp. “During this camp period, we saw four new football players wearing the national team jersey. We are hopeful for the future. We are unhappy because we lost. I don’t think we deserved to lose today. This is how we end this camp. We will take our experiences forward.”
Montella expressed satisfaction with the overall performance and team spirit displayed by his squad. “I can say that everyone played their own role. I was satisfied with everyone’s performance in the camp. Because they were able to reflect the team spirit and the challenge on the field. The team spirit we’ve always wanted…”
He also highlighted Türkiye’s progress in the FIFA rankings under his guidance. “When I arrived, we were in the 40th place in FIFA. Then we were able to move up to 27th place. The Mexican team is also in 17th place. We should not forget that our opponent is a valuable opponent. In general, it was not a defeat we deserved. We stayed with that sadness tonight. Everyone fought. We could just be a little more accurate.”
Addressing the team’s struggles with finishing, Montella conceded, “This is how football happens. Sometimes you get too much, but you can’t be accurate. Sometimes you get accurate after loading less. Our hit rate was low today. Unfortunately, football is like this.”
Montella concluded by reiterating his team’s physical effort. “We did not physically show a bad performance from the opponent. Our opponents may be in the middle of the season, but there was a fight. We fought until the end. We came finished the season. Some of our players played more than 50 matches. Despite that, we were not physically behind the opponent. We also lacked a lot.”
