Chivu takes the blame after Calhanoglu criticism for skipping Italy vs. Turkiye
MILAN, ITALY - AUGUST 22: Hakan Calhanoglu of Internazionale celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and AC Monza at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on August 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Inter head coach Cristian Chivu has stepped in to defend Hakan Calhanoglu, who faced some backlash in his homeland after failing to attend the Nations League match between Italy and Turkiye in Bologna on Monday night: ‘The problem was me’.
Chivu explains why Calhanoglu didn’t attend Italy vs. Turkiye: ‘The problem was me’
Calhanoglu is the captain of the Turkiye national team squad but was not included in VIncenzo Montella’s squad for the September-October international break due to injury.
Still, questions were asked when Calhanoglu was not in attendance to watch his teammates when they took on Italy in Bologna.
Chivu addressed the matter during his pre-match press conference ahead of Inter’s Serie A match against Parma, explaining that he called his players in for a training session late in the day on Monday, which would have prevented Calhanoglu from travelling down to the Dall’Ara for the Italy vs. Turkiye game.
“Hakan came back on Monday, he’s been training with the group without any issues for the last week. He’s available,” Chivu told reporters during his press conference on Friday.
He went on to explain: “Rumours have come out of Turkey about the fact that he did not go and watch his teammates on Monday. The problem was me. We trained late in the afternoon and I wanted him to be there, otherwise I would have given him the day off to let him go and watch the game. We trained late in the afternoon that day and I didn’t give him the time off because I needed to work with him.”
Click here to read Chivu’s pre-match press conference in full.
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