Speaking to journalists after the 0:1 defeat to Paraguay, Turkish national team player Merih Demiral emphasized that everyone bears responsibility for the result.
Modern.az reports that Demiral, who apologized to the Turkish people, said:
“We are very sad. I apologize to the Turkish people. I have nothing else to say. I don't know what to say, there are such moments in football. We apologize to everyone. Everyone in the locker room was very sad. I have been coming to the national team for years, this was the game that saddened me the most. Everyone is very emotional. We apologize to all our people. I can't find other words.”
The 28-year-old footballer stated that the team played with great desire in both the Australia and Paraguay matches:
“When it doesn't work, it doesn't work. We took 70-75 shots in two games. When it doesn't work, it doesn't work. We are experiencing the sadness of this. We believe we fought, we did our best in both games. We got unexpected results. It shouldn't have been like this. We all bear responsibility here. We sincerely apologize to everyone, to our people whom we have hurt and saddened.”
Speaking about their last group match against the USA, Merih Demiral stated that they want to finish the tournament with a victory:
“Everyone is very sad, but there is one more game ahead. Hopefully, we will finish the tournament well.”
Speaking about the national team's head coach Vincenzo Montella, Demiral added:
“As soon as he entered the locker room, he gathered all of us. He talked to all of us. He congratulated us for the fight we showed. He is also very sad. But he is satisfied with everyone's struggle. Because we did our best. Of course, everyone can express an opinion from the outside, but believe me, everyone did their best. There are good days and bad days in football. We could have achieved a better result, at least we could have gotten out of the group. Therefore, all responsibility is on us. Once again, I apologize to all our people.”
