Montella: ‘A new level for Turkiye, we played a little better than Italy’

Turkiye head coach Vincenzo Montella defended his team's performance following a 3-1 defeat to Italy in the Nations League. Montella argued that Turkiye played on level terms and perhaps even better than Italy, pointing out that their opponents brought €350m worth of talent off the bench. Italy claimed victory behind goals from Gianluca Scamacca, Riccardo Calafiori, and Pio Esposito, while Aral Simsir scored for Turkiye.

The defeat left Turkiye with zero points after four Nations League games, putting them at risk of relegation to Nations League B. Montella emphasized that his side was missing key contributors including Kenan Yildiz, Hakan Calhanoglu, Baris Alper Yilmaz, and Arda Guler, leading him to field younger, less experienced players as part of a long-term development process.