Nations League: Kuntz “survived” Turkey embarrassment

The Turkish press stated that the population of the Faroe Islands is around 49,000 people, a full 1,726 times smaller than that of Turkey. “There are more sheep than people on this island,” wrote the sports newspaper “Fanatik” and rated the Turkish game as “embarrassing”. Kuntz has now lost his credit, headlined the daily newspaper “Sözcü” on Monday. As the newspaper continues to write, the TFF association is preparing to say “Bye Kuntz”.

Despite all prophecies of doom, Kuntz will remain in office. Hamit Altintop, who sits on the association’s board, told media representatives on Monday that the 59-year-old will not be replaced. The German benefited from the fact that Turkey had made it into League B after just four games. The 3:3 against Luxembourg and the 1:2 against the Faroe Islands only had the character of a friendly.

“We picked up speed under the new coach and presented ourselves as improved. But the last two games made us think. But we’re sticking with the coach,” said Altintop. The newspaper “Milliyet” stated: “You will say that we have been promoted to League B in the Nations League, what more could you ask for.” But there was none of the teams in Group C “that is of our caliber”. .

Bad attitude, many failures

Kuntz, who has been in office since September 2021 and has a record of seven wins, two draws and three defeats, had a simple explanation: “We ran less than our opponents and we lost more duels.” Another factor for them The defeat was that ten or eleven leading players could not be used. “We could not replace the players who are responsible for the stability of our team.”

Viljormur Davidsen (51st) and Joan Edmundsson (59th) scored for the hosts in Torshavn. The goal from Serdar Gürler (89th) came too late. After the game, Gürler reported a “funeral mood” in the dressing room. “We are incredibly sad. There is no excuse for this defeat. We didn’t fight and didn’t want to win like they (Faroe Islands players, note) have.”