Samet Akaydin hits back at criticism: 'Commenting on a person's hair or mustache is a whole different level'

The Turkish National Football Team continues its preparations in Mesa, Arizona, USA, for its second match in Group D of the 2026 FIFA World Cup against Paraguay. National footballer Samet Akaydin also made statements at the press conference held.

"WE DID NOT EXPECT SUCH A SCORE IN THE FIRST MATCH"

Starting his words by expressing that they are unhappy, Akaydin said, "We did not expect such a score in the first match. No one expected it, and we didn't either. We prepared well for the match. Our unity and solidarity, and our hard work, were what brought us here. This will not be broken in any way. We played one match, and we have two matches ahead of us. Our country expects a lot from us, we are aware of this. We will represent our country in the best way in the Paraguay match and make up for it by winning. This did not discourage us. Unexpected scores happen in the first matches. We received a score we did not expect. We think we will make up for this and advance from the group," he said.

"WE WERE UPSET BY WHAT WAS WRITTEN, BUT THESE WILL MAKE US STRONGER"

The national footballer also stated that they were upset by what was written about the atmosphere within the team, saying, "Some things are being written. We talk among ourselves. We are really upset that such things are written. We know ourselves, the atmosphere is clear. Such things are not even in question. This team is a team that has been playing together since the European Championship. It is not a team that changes; it is a team that knows and loves each other very well. We had played an Austria match, a friendly match, and we lost by a large margin. Then you know how we beat Austria in the European Championship. I think this Australia match will bring us to our senses and lead to good results. We are always in meetings, we are talking. We were really upset by what was written, but these will make us even stronger. We will show this in the best way in the Paraguay match," he said.

"WE WILL FIGHT UNTIL THE END"

"We always want to make our country happy," said Samet, continuing as follows:

"These things place a responsibility on us. We want to fulfill this responsibility in the best way possible. We are also upset when we see children crying in the stands. We always want to make those children and our country happy. We will fight until the end for this."

"AS A COUNTRY, WE HAVE A STRUCTURE THAT GETS ANGRY AND SOFTENS VERY QUICKLY"

The 32-year-old footballer stated that they are accustomed to and experienced with criticism, saying, "It doesn't affect me much. It makes me stronger. There will be criticism; if there isn't, football has no meaning. When things are good, good things are said, and when things are bad, there will be bad criticism. As a team, we are experienced. As a country, we have a structure that gets angry and softens very quickly. These do not bring us down. They make us stronger. Everyone is waiting for the Paraguay match to come as soon as possible so we can go out there. Hopefully, we will make up for this," he said.

"I DO NOT THINK WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ANALYSIS"

Stating that they analyzed the Australia match well and that they carried out the analysis of the Paraguay match in the same way, Samet Akaydin said, "I do not think we have a problem with analysis. Our coach, our team, and our players have all tried to do their best. We are working in a disciplined manner. Now we are in a state of greater unity and solidarity. We are talking, we are trying to learn lessons from our shortcomings. We were always aware of the situation. The first matches can be made up for. We don't want to voice these and stress ourselves out. We have two matches ahead of us. We are preparing in the best way possible. We will leave here with a good result," he included.

"OUR COUNTRY DESERVES THE BEST"

Adding that they feel responsibility rather than pressure, Samet said, "There is a responsibility towards our country. Our country deserves the best. When we cannot provide this, it upsets us. After this match, we are more eager and working harder. The defeat made us stronger. We will see the difference in the Paraguay match and make everyone feel it," he evaluated.

"CONCEDING A GOAL FROM WHERE WE WORKED UPSET US"

Emphasizing that conceding a goal from the areas they worked on against Australia upset them, the crescent-star player said:

"This was what we analyzed. The opponent was a team that came out with counterattacks. Even though we focused on this a lot, conceding a goal from here upset us and the coach. Now we need to be more careful. There is no making up for the second match anymore. Hopefully, we will prepare in the best way possible. This time we will pay more attention to what we worked on. Hopefully, we will get a good result."

"WE DO NOT WANT TO DISAPPOINT OUR PRESIDENT"

Pointing out that Turkish Football Federation President İbrahim Hacıosmanoğlu supports them in every matter, Samet said, "He always stands behind us. We love him very much, and he loves us. We have a brotherly relationship. He defended our rights everywhere. He believes in us. We do not want to waste his belief. He is a pure-hearted person. We do not want to disappoint him. By winning this match, we will give a nice gift to our country. We will make people forget that defeat and dry the tears of the children. We are working very hard, hopefully, we will get the result of this," he explained.

"THERE IS NOTHING WE WOULD NOT DO ON THE FIELD FOR THIS FLAG"

Reminding that the friendly match they played against North Macedonia was prepared with the Australia match in mind, Akaydin said, "The reason we played this match was that the opponents played with a 5-man defense. We prepared very well, I don't think there was a deficiency in terms of preparation. What upset us was conceding a goal from where we prepared. It didn't suit us. You get some results, talking about this defeat... We look at it as 'it's over and done with.' We keep talking about the same things. We have come to the World Cup after 24 years. We have a very critical match ahead of us. We really need support. This team has done great things until now. This group achieved it, and they will do it again. I am calling out to my country; let them support us in this match specifically. We need their support. We put tactics aside; as a country, we act with our emotions. There is nothing we would not do on the field for this flag. When those who play poorly realize this, they criticize themselves. We are aware of everything. We got a result that didn't suit us. We talked about how we can make up for this in the best way. Our trust in each other is complete. Hopefully, we will win the Paraguay match," he said.

Samet Akaydin also stated that they do not like water breaks and that they lower the tempo of the game.

"WE COULD HAVE OPENED THE CLOSED DEFENSE WITH SHOTS"

Touching on the fact that they had general possession of the ball in the Australia match, the national player said, "Conceding a goal from where we worked brought us down. We could have opened the closed defense with shots. We have very good shooters among our friends. We wanted to open the defense this way, but it didn't happen. When we conceded a bad goal, our morale dropped. We started the second half well, we became lively with Kenan entering the game. When we unfortunately conceded the second goal, we collapsed," he said.

"FIGHTING ABILITY ALWAYS BEATS TALENT"

Emphasizing that fighting wins on the field rather than talent, Samet Akaydin said:

"Our responsibility was high. Because after the groups were announced, everyone had in their minds that the national team would come out of here as the leader. I thought so too, and I still think so. Our team outweighs in terms of quality. But when you go out on the field and don't reflect that ambition, fighting ability always beats talent. Talent only goes so far. If you are not on that field with a love for the jersey, you cannot win any match. When we are united, there is nothing we cannot do. Before going to the European Championship, everyone was talking about how we would beat Croatia, how we would go. They said we couldn't get out of the group, we got out of the group. They conceded 6 in the Austria match, they asked how you would eliminate them, we eliminated them. We saw how we lost the Netherlands match. Our belief is complete; we will answer the criticism on the field and beat Paraguay," he said.

"WHEN WE FIRST CAME TO TRAINING, WE COULDN'T BREATHE"

Stating that the weather conditions in Arizona challenged them in the first days they arrived but that they have now adapted to it, Samet said, "I felt more comfortable in Canada. There is a very different weather here. I have also experienced the weather in Adana. But when we first came to training, we couldn't breathe. We were waking up at 06:00 in the morning. Now we can sleep comfortably. We got used to it. The weather conditions affected us a little bit, but we adapted to it," he said.

"COMMENTING ON A PERSON'S HAIR OR MUSTACHE IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL"

Samet Akaydin said that when criticism becomes personal, it moves to a different level and ceases to be criticism, saying, "As a country, we experience emotions at the extremes. Our opinions change immediately according to the result of a match. We are always open to criticism, but sometimes we confuse criticism. We can analyze the match, but commenting on a person's hair or mustache is a whole different level; these things go beyond criticism. That is the only thing we are angry about. Criticism should always be made. People think that we are not unhappy. There is no such thing; when we lost the match, we didn't sleep until morning, we were very unhappy. But there are such strange things; they make different insinuations about our captain. Our captain's morale also drops a lot. What he does for this team... Hakan is a bit of an emotional person, he gets hung up on such things. It is very normal for him to get hung up because very absurd things are written. We are afraid to do anything out of fear. When the press is outside, we just stand still in training for fear of doing something wrong. If you win the match, they will write 'they will most likely be champions.' That's why the criticism when we lose doesn't bring us down, and the praise when we win doesn't make us arrogant," he said.