Montella: That's Football – Two Goals Conceded from Two Counter-Attacks

Turkey's head coach, Vincenzo Montella, attempted to justify his team's 2-0 loss to Australia in their World Cup opener.

“We had shots on goal, but that's football,” the Italian began. “When the ball doesn't go in, things don't work out. We had 30 shots. We still have time and we will do our best. From a tactical standpoint, the match didn't unfold in a way that was beyond our expectations. We knew we would face a team that would sit deep in defense. If we had converted the chances we created, the outcome could have been different. We conceded two goals from two counter-attacks. The players poured their hearts into this game, and if we continue to show the same attitude, we will achieve the results we want.”

“When you lose, you have to accept all criticism, even when you believe it's unfair. I respect every opinion.”

“We are very sorry, but we will try to perform better in the next match,” Montella added.

He also explained his seemingly strange decision not to bring on a striker as a substitute when trailing 2-0: “We needed to limit the opponent's counter-attacks. That's why we made the substitutions with Mert and Salih at that moment. Arda and Hakan hadn't played a full 90 minutes in a long time. We needed to add energy around them.”