Montella: ‘I want to continue as Turkiye coach, we inflated expectations’
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 25: Vincenzo Montella, Head Coach of Turkiye, looks on during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between Türkiye and USA at Los Angeles Stadium on June 25, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Vincenzo Montella insists he has no intention of stepping down as Turkiye coach even if he loses to Italy tonight. ‘We inflated the expectations with the results of recent years.’
It kicks off at the Stadio Dall’Ara in Bologna at 19.45 UK time (20.45 CEST).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.
The pressure is growing on the Italian tactician after an early 2026 World Cup exit and a dire showing so far in the Nations League after promotion to League A.
He has lost all three matches, scoring one goal and conceding eight against France, Italy and Belgium.
Montella wants to keep Turkiye job
“It is new for us too, having four games in 11 days, and our first time at this level,” Montella told Sky Sport Italia.
He has a weakened squad, as along with injured Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz and Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, this time he is also without suspended Real Madrid talent Arda Guler and striker Baris Alper Yilmaz.
Eintracht Frankfurt creative midfielder Can Uzun is also struggling with a muscular issue.
“Obviously, we want to have our say, we are missing some important players, but it is an opportunity to see some new faces who can be useful for many years to come,” added Montella.
The calls are growing for him to be fired and for the chiefs of the Turkish football federation to resign after a growing illegal betting scandal that saw a referee arrested today.
“I am proud to be the coach of Turkiye for these three years, they always showed affection. There is criticism right now, but that’s understandable in our line of work.
“I continue to feel that affection, and I am only sorry I haven’t been able to live up to their expectations recently, but that is also because we inflated the expectations with the results we’ve achieved in recent years.
“I am motivated, confident, overall pretty calm, so I certainly want to keep going, especially as the lads have shown they believe in what we are doing.”
This is a special moment for Montella being up against Italy and his old Sampdoria teammate Roberto Mancini on the touchline.
“It was emotional the first time, even if it was only a friendly, and by now I’m almost used to it. This is football.”
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.