Vincenzo Montella has praised Turkey’s spirit as they overcame heavily fancied Austria and reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2024. The manager also admitted he had erased a “terrible stain” from his career, removing the shadow of a 6-1 defeat to the same opponents in March.
“I’m very proud of the spirit we showed on the court,” Montella said. “When you can see that, it’s outstanding for a coach. Apart from our formation, game plan and tactics, I saw the heart of the Turks today and that’s what I love about this country. .
Montella played down thoughts of revenge against Austria before the game and while he made it clear he was not consumed by the emotion, he admitted he was ecstatic to salvage professional pride. “It was a terrible stain on my career,” he said of that night in Vienna. “This is what I’ve been waiting for, trying to get this monkey off my back. As coaches we are like footballers, we are competitors. I have this competitive instinct because we want to change this As a result, it was a friendly match, but there is no such thing as a friendly match.
Turkey goalkeeper Mert Gunok confirmed his side’s 2-1 victory with a late save from Christoph Baumgartner, something Montella also acknowledged. The importance of a moment. “I’m happy for him, happy for the team and the country, happy for the team and what we’ve created here,” he said.
“Melt did a great job, it’s his job to make the save and we’re happy he made the game-winning save in the last minute.”
Ralf Rangnick lamented Austria’s “not having the necessary luck” and said their exit was still brewing. “We think we will continue our journey here and be ready for the next few games, and the players think so too.
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“The four games we played were really fun, really intense, and I’ve seen other games where it’s hard to stay awake, but that wasn’t the case with us.”
