Sports writers evaluate Turkey's victory over Croatia: The road to EURO 2024 has reached its end

Our National Football Team defeated Croatia 1-0 away in the EURO 2024 qualifying group match with a goal from Barış Alper Yılmaz. With this result, the national team rose to the top of the group. Sports writers evaluated this important victory of our National Team.

The evaluations of the sports writers are as follows:

ENGİN KEHALE: A VINCENZO MONTELLA FILM: THE ITALIAN JOB

"As a coach, you are only as strong as the extent to which you can make your players believe in the plan in your head. Vincenzo Montella not only played a game consistent with his pre-match statements against Croatia, but he also convinced his students and the public of his strategy on paper. The plan was clear. By protecting the center in the front, using a 6-player press to direct the ball to Croatia's full-backs and keeping the game away from our goal. These 6 players should also be divided into two. Kerem and Barış Alper are the duo that runs and disrupts the positioning of the opponent's defensive line. The remaining 4 are a near-perfect mix of disruptors and passers. Two sentences need to be written specifically for one man... When the transfer window closed, he looked like Fenerbahçe's weak point. As the days pass, he is on his way to becoming indispensable not only for his club but also for the National Team. His toughness and ball-winning ability are already at an elite level. When he also played perfectly in his passing choices, he became the star of the match. Well done to you, İsmail Yüksek!" (Hürriyet)

UĞUR MELEKE: WE MADE A KIND OF REGRAGUI MOVE

Almost the same players from the Kuntz era played a completely different kind of football in Osijek under Montella's management. When Morocco appointed Regragui, there were only two months left until the World Cup. If you have a good generation, you can turn things around in a short time when you bring in the right coach. It seems we made a kind of Regragui move too. (Hürriyet)

CEM DİZDAR: THE ROAD TO EURO 2024 HAS REACHED ITS END

The country's football, which never tires of playing 'jigsaw puzzle', is trying what it has tried dozens of times once again with the National Team. The National Team, which went through a hasty coaching change with a 'let's see if it works' attitude, acted in accordance with the logic of an away team in the first match under Vincenzo Montella. In a match where safety was at the forefront, the task of getting a result was tied to 'opportunity efficiency'. By the 70th minute, the National Team, which had played with the ball half as much, was in a better position in terms of goal attempts. A goal was found with Barış Alper Yılmaz in one of the three serious positions. Especially while İsmail Yüksek was disrupting Croatia's game setup in the midfield, if Hakan Çalhanoğlu could have received a little more help from the wing players, the situation could have been completely different. We had already come a long way in terms of qualifying from this group. Although the storm raised around the name Kuntz caused anxiety, the road to the European Championship has now shortened significantly, and it can even be said that it has 'reached its end'. After all, the fact that we made a fresh start with Montella by defeating Croatia, whom we had never beaten away until now, is a special situation in itself. Thus, the door to the first of the four important tournaments to be held until the 2032 hosting has been entered... (Fanatik)