Uğurcan Çakır: We have a chance to make amends

The Turkish National Football Team will face Paraguay in their second match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D. Before this match, national goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır answered questions from members of the press at a hotel in Arizona.

Stating that the Australia match did not go as they had hoped, Çakır said, "Sometimes when you are too motivated, it doesn't work out. That's how it went for us. We are sad, but we have a chance to make up for this mistake in the Paraguay match. We must prepare for the match in a focused manner. We all need to know our duties and play accordingly. It wasn't a final match. We all wanted to win the first match. We wanted to make our country proud. It didn't go as we wanted. There are 6 points left to be won. The first match is the Paraguay match. We want to win and take the 3 points," he said.

"We wanted to win very much, but it didn't reflect on the pitch"

The 30-year-old goalkeeper, who said they were saddened by the result against Australia, stated, "Coming here was actually our dream. We came here after 24 years, and we wanted to make our country proud in the first match. I think there was even emotional pressure regarding this. When we saw the televisions set up in the squares, we wanted to respond. We wanted to win very much, but it didn't reflect on the pitch. The team's morale is good. We have forgotten the first match. We have 2 matches left that we can call final matches. We want to win these and make our country proud," he said.

"There is no such situation in the team as written outside, the friendship is very good"

Emphasizing that the current squad achieved successful results in the 2024 European Football Championship and the Nations League, the national goalkeeper said, "We were the ones who did those things. Not many names have changed. We added a few more people to the team. It was the same squad again. There is no such situation in the team as written outside. The friendship is already very good. This has brought us great successes, like the World Cup after 24 years. There might be things written outside. I don't think there is a problem with the friendship. We are happy, training is fun. We got a result we didn't want in the first match, we saddened our country. I think we can make up for this. We will prepare for the Paraguay match with our best performance. Hopefully, we will get the result we want in the Paraguay match as well," he expressed.

"We have a chance to make amends in our Paraguay match"

Stating that there might be criticism, Uğurcan Çakır said, "Their criticism is welcome. If you play football, you have to be open to criticism. There is no need to blow this out of proportion. We have a chance to make amends in our Paraguay match. Yesterday is in the past. We need to look ahead. And we are looking ahead," he assessed.

"I trust my teammates very much"

Expressing that they have analyzed the Australia match, Çakır said, "We saw what we did wrong. Our coach also showed many positive positions. It wasn't very important that we kept the ball. We saw what we did wrong. The analysis of the Australia match is finished. We are preparing for Paraguay. We will work hard in training. We will be united, and we will try to get a good result as we always do. I believe we are players with the character and talent to achieve this. We think we can succeed in this. There are 2 more matches ahead of us. Yesterday is in the past, we will look ahead. I trust my teammates very much," he said.

Stating that he played below his own standards against Australia, the national goalkeeper said, "Sometimes these matches can happen to you. I would have liked not to concede a goal and help my teammates more. Hopefully, I will try to do that in the other matches," he expressed.

"We conceded goals from the areas we worked on in the Australia match"

The 30-year-old goalkeeper, who stated that the friendly match they played against North Macedonia before the World Cup was arranged for the Australia match, said, "We had won that match. We analyzed Australia very well. We conceded goals from the areas we worked on. We wanted to focus a little more and minimize our mistakes. Hopefully, we will do that in the Paraguay match. The coach showed it a lot in the analysis, we conceded a goal from the same position. We knew how the opponent would play. We conceded a goal in an unlucky way," he assessed.

"Water breaks are not good at all"

Sharing his thoughts on the water breaks given during the World Cup matches, Uğurcan Çakır said, "Water breaks are not good at all. The match cools down, and our concentration is scattered. I didn't like it at all. There are teams that play like that, it might be good for them. It doesn't get extremely hot in our matches. These breaks are not good," he said.

"The breaking point in the Australia match was that we couldn't score"

When asked about the breaking point in the Australia match, Çakır said, "The breaking point was that we couldn't score. When you can't score, emotions get ahead of reason. You want to do more than what you have on the pitch. You can't find logical positions against those emotions. We have the responsibility of our country, so we experience our emotions intensely. It was the opponents' preference for us to have the ball. We didn't have very clear positions. We did what the opponent wanted. We could have produced different solutions, we had worked on these, but it wasn't meant to be. We will do our best in the Paraguay match," he said.

"No match is easy on paper"

Emphasizing that no match is easy on paper, the national goalkeeper said, "You can't see some things in the analysis of opponents, but when you go out on the pitch, if the person's desire, ambition, concentration, and focus are higher, no matter how talented you are, they have a chance to beat you. Even Spain drew, everyone says they are the best team in the world. This can happen. In 2002, our older brothers achieved great successes. The match is played on the pitch. I have played nearly 400 matches. I don't remember winning any match easily," he explained. Uğurcan Çakır also said that he is getting used to the weather conditions and time difference over time.

"Then they will say we will play in the final"

When asked how they expect the criticism to be if the Paraguay match is won, the 30-year-old goalkeeper said, "Then they will say we will play in the final. We want to make our country happy. Our country also wants to be happy. America is playing in the World Cup. Are they waiting for us to lose? I can't understand that. All of their criticisms are welcome. We have learned the necessary lessons, we have done our analyses. There are 2 matches ahead of us. Hopefully, we will win the Paraguay match and make our country happy. I love all my friends, I trust them all very much. 'It's not over until we say it's over' was the slogan back then. Hopefully, we can succeed. We were very happy in 2008. Our country is waiting for us to win so they can be happy. Hopefully, we want to make them experience that," he said, concluding his words.

News Source: 12punto