Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s First Statement After World Cup Farewell Draws Backlash
Following Turkey's farewell to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the captain of the A National Team, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, made statements to the broadcasting corporation TRT Sport. The experienced player, who spoke to the microphones immediately after the match, apologized to the public and emphasized the need to support young players. However, the captain's remarks such as 'We tried, it didn't work' and 'We gave our all' drew criticism.
Here are the details about the interview:
First Comments from Captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu After the Paraguay Match!
"We Brought It After 24 Years, We Gave Everything We Had"
Turkey's 24-year-long World Cup drought unfortunately ended with an early and bitter disappointment in 2026. After definitively bowing out of the tournament with a 1-0 defeat to Paraguay in our second match in Group D, all eyes turned to the team's captain, Hakan Çalhanoğlu.
Unable to hide the great sadness caused by the opponent's single shot victory, Çalhanoğlu summarized the score by saying, 'They won the match with one shot.'
'We brought it this far, we did, after 24 years. We gave everything in two matches, we tried. We tried to score, but it didn't happen. The ball bounces off the post. We shoot, it doesn't happen, it hits the head, we shoot, it doesn't happen, it hits the foot. It's bad luck, what can I say, they came again once. They won the match with one shot.'
'Maybe My Last World Cup, Take Care of the Youngsters'
Hakan Çalhanoğlu both apologized and asked for support for the young players:
'Actually, what I want to say is this; first of all, I want to apologize on behalf of the team to all our people. Of course, we are a young team. We have many tournaments ahead of us. I'm saying this especially for our young players. This might be my last World Cup. But not for the others, for my other young friends. We need to take care of them.'
Meanwhile, reactions to the captain on social media were not delayed. 👇
'If the team's captain is in this mindset, one shouldn't be surprised by the results.'
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'There's no point in saying we did it when it doesn't work out. Spain plays the same game too but they score 6, you know. You shouldn't say 'it's not happening', you should say 'we are incapable'.'
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'Instead of creating a perception by saying 65 shots, explain how many of those shots were on target. When you don't know how to hit the ball, the scoreboard speaks, not the statistics: 0 points, 0 goals.'
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'Trying everything:
Holding transfer talks at the national team camp and becoming Fener's election material
Shooting TikToks with İrfan Can
Recording a podcast with Merih'
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I swear, once the team captain has this mindset, you shouldn't expect anything. It's obvious that the whole team and the technical staff are living in another universe. In the match where he says 'we shoot but it doesn't happen', Merih has 5 shots. Keep shooting man, if only Montella had taken 2 shots from the sidelines as well.'
👇
'This jersey deserves the struggle, not excuses. There is no such thing as 'we did whatever we could but it didn't work out', if you can't do better, you shouldn't sell dreams to these people.'
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