DORTMUND, Germany: Vincenzo Montella said Monday that his Turkiye players will try to “honor” the huge support set to roar them on during Euro 2024, ahead of their opener with debutants Georgia.
Turkiye’s Group F fixtures will effectively be home matches due to the huge numbers of Turkish fans living in Germany, and those supporters will create a feverish atmosphere during Tuesday’s clash in Dortmund.
Montella got a taste of the kind of support his team can expect during a 3-2 friendly win over Germany in Berlin in November, their first away success against the Germans since 1951.
“We’ve already experienced this support having played in Germany. It’s a big responsibility for us. We don’t want to disappoint the Turkish people here nor the ones back home so we’ll honor the flag right to the end,” Montella told reporters.
“We hadn’t won in Germany for 72 years, we hadn’t ever won away against Croatia (before beating them in qualifying) and we managed to do it, so it’s the year of firsts.”
It will be a doubly special occasion for Salih Ozcan, who plays his club football for Borussia Dortmund and will be playing on familiar turf at the Westfalenstadion.
“It will be like a home match for is, we need to use that support to our advantage,” said Ozcan.
“It will be a particular experience for me to play in this stadium. I hope that it will be red and white on Tuesday, it’ll be a great match that we want to win.”
Turkiye will also face Portugal and the Czech Republic in Group F.
Turkiye to ‘honor’ massive Euro 2024 support, says Montella
https://arab.news/mtzp6
Turkiye to ‘honor’ massive Euro 2024 support, says Montella
- Turkiye’s Group F fixtures will effectively be home matches due to the huge numbers of Turkish fans living in Germany
Argentina football exec barred from leaving country in tax probe
- Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia was summoned to appear in court on March 5
- Other AFA executives were also slapped with a travel ban
BUENOS AIRES: A court has barred the president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) from leaving the country and summoned him to testify in a tax evasion case, according to the ruling cited by media Thursday.
Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia was summoned to appear in court on March 5 over a complaint filed by Argentina’s ARCA tax collection agency over alleged tax evasion and misappropriation of social security funds.
Other AFA executives were also slapped with a travel ban “in light of the seriousness of the events under investigation,” according to the summons.
Authorities are investigating whether the AFA illegally withheld pension contributions for players and employees and failed to pay taxes due between March 2024 and September 2025.
In December, police raided the association’s headquarters in Buenos Aires just months before the world champions defend their title at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The AFA insists it is the victim of a smear campaign amid a dispute with a businessman over the organization of friendly matches for the Argentine national soccer team.
The association claims the businessman is at the root of the complaints against it, with the knowledge of the government of President Javier Milei.
Milei favors turning football clubs, which are non-profit associations, into publicly traded sports companies.
AFA rules do not allow this.
