Dortmund (dpa)
Mystery still surrounds the fate of young star Arda Guler from participating in the starting lineup, during the fateful confrontation of the Turkish national team against the Czech Republic, at the conclusion of the group stage competitions for the European Nations Cup “Euro 2024”, after he participated from the bench, during the loss to Portugal by three goals.
Guler, 19 years old, scored his country’s second goal during a 3-1 victory over Gorhia in the first round. Thanks to his wonderful goal in his first appearance in the continental tournament, he won the Man of the Match title. He also became the youngest player to score in his first appearance in the Euro finals.
But Guler only participated in the last 20 minutes of the match against Portugal, after the fans chanted his name in large numbers at Dortmund Stadium.
Italian coach Vincenzo Montella had hinted on the eve of the match that Guler might not participate from the start, due to his suffering from fatigue.
Montella said after the match, “Arda was not ready to participate in more than 30 minutes without increasing his risk of injury.”
He added: “In the end, I pushed him. When you play every four days, the sport is different, so you need to rotate the players.”
Montella confirmed that he was not surprised that he had to defend the decision to exclude Guler from the starting lineup, noting, “The coach is always the first enemy when you lose.”
He continued: “Those who do not play are definitely the players who are most important to the media.”
Montella and his crew are monitoring Guler’s condition before facing the Czech Republic next Wednesday, as Turkey needs a positive result in order to qualify for the round of 16.
The Italian coach said: “We have a wonderful relationship. He is a smart boy and has a great passion for his country and feels very proud of his country. Even though he knew he might be injured, he wanted to play.”
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