Vincenzo Montella's 'friendly match' comment

In the 6th and final match of Group E in the 2026 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers, the A National Football Team will face Spain away tomorrow at 22:45 TSI. Speaking at a press conference held at La Cartuja Stadium ahead of this match, A National Football Team Head Coach Vincenzo Montella said, "It is a very important match for us. We did not come here to treat this as a friendly match in any way.

We know how important this match is for us. We take the field to win every match. Our motivation is very high; it will be a test for all of us. We will do everything to get the result we want."

Compared to the first match, we need to display a more balanced game tomorrow. We made a mistake in the first match; we needed to recover our mental energy more quickly, considering it was the second match.

Tomorrow, of course, we will play our own attacking football. We have arrived having regained our mental energy, and as I said, we need to be more balanced for it to be a better match," he said.

Emphasizing that such matches are always a huge motivation, Montella said, "If I have to go back to my playing days, these are the matches I loved the most. Competing against the best was an opportunity to prove myself. I do not think for a second that the players' motivation is low. In such matches, the adrenaline level is very high; you want to prove yourself.

You want to prove that you can compete head-to-head with them and play good football. It is also an important match for us to re-evaluate our own level. As you know, since we have been promoted to the Nations League A, we will be playing more matches at this level."

Emotions and dreams are always there. Even the thought of one of our players thinking we cannot win saddens me. Because no matter what, we want to win every match we play, and we know what we are capable of. Therefore, of course, we all have dreams and goals. In that direction, as I said, we want to win tomorrow's match with balanced football, by reflecting our own style; of course, we dream of this, and we know that everyone is having that dream. That is why we know that when we take the field tomorrow, with our own approach, our own ambition, our own desire, and our own passion, we can win when we play our own football. Of course, why not? It is illogical to predict a score before the matches are played. Anything can happen, everything is possible," he stated.

When asked whether players on the verge of suspension would play, the Italian coach replied, "Honestly, I don't know if this is the right thing to say, but logically speaking, it is more sensible to protect them rather than putting them on the field; one needs to think a bit more pragmatically."

"WE ACHIEVED THE RESULTS WE WANTED EXCEPT FOR THE SPAIN MATCH"

Speaking about their performance in the World Cup qualifying group, Vincenzo Montella said, "Except for the Spain match, we achieved the results we wanted. We scored 15 goals in the last 5 matches; I don't remember a period in the past where 15 goals were scored in 5 matches. When we looked at the group, Georgia appeared to be our direct rival, and we won both at home and away. Of course, we want to finish our group well. We want to finish in the best way possible. Because as you know, the Spain National Team is currently the number one in the world. We want to do everything we can to get the result we want, and we want to maintain this consistency."

When reminded of his time as head coach of the Spanish team Sevilla, the 51-year-old coach assessed, "It was a very good period for me. I spent 5 months there. It was the period where I experienced the greatest injustice in my coaching career. We eliminated Manchester United while advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals; we had reached the quarter-finals for the first time in 77 years. We also reached the final by defeating Atletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey, and we lost to Barcelona in the final. I think we added value to the Sevilla team. We evaluated many players, and then their sales took place. Being fired after such a period at the end of the season surprised me; I saw it as an injustice."

Montella answered questions about the National Football Team's young players Arda Güler and Kenan Yıldız as follows:

"We already knew how talented a footballer Arda was. I have been here for almost two years, and we witness his talent every day. We all know what great goals he has, not only here but also at his club. He is a player who has developed a lot so far and is still capable of developing further. He shows this every time with his ambition, his approach, and his mentality. Because he has such potential. I wish this with all my heart. Kenan is a player who constantly tries to improve himself and works very hard. He is very ambitious and very eager. We have generally used him on the left since the first day, and we are very satisfied. Kenan can do incredible things in both tight and open spaces. No matter where we put him, he always does positive things in attack."

"WE ALL KNOW THAT SPAIN IS A GOOD NATIONAL TEAM"

Stating that Spain is a good team, the Italian coach said, "The numbers say that Spain is the best in the world, but although they lost the Nations League final recently, Spain was the last European champion. I don't know if they would continue to win if they competed against high-level teams like Brazil, Argentina, England, and Portugal. Because you know that in football, the game and matches can change at any moment. Spain has about 30-35 players who are almost at the same level. Even if they change the squad, they can bring the same level of play to the field. That's why we all know that they are a good national team."

In the final part of the press conference, Vincenzo Montella explained why and based on what criteria he invited Ahmet Kutucu, Yusuf Akçiçek, and İsak Vural to the squad. Montella said, "When Emirhan got injured, we thought of Yusuf. Because he was a player who had been with us before, and he is one of the players we think could have a future in the team."

I never make a decision to please a club or anyone; I act by thinking about the future of our national team. İsak Vural was born in 2006 and is a player we have been following for a long time. We believe he can have a future in the national team as well.

Ahmed Kutucu is also a player we believe in and hold in high regard. He may not have been playing much at his club recently, but he is a name who has seen our methods before and has worked with us. Our doctor said Aral could not walk, so we made a quick assessment. Because our federation is in Istanbul and the player was nearby—not to please the club, but because he is a player we believe in and he was close by in Istanbul. If our federation were in another city, we would have acted accordingly. We had a national team match in Kayseri, and we needed a player, so we called up Gökhan from Kayseri at that time. No one complained about this decision of ours," he said.