Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu feels that his role for his club and international side is fairly consistent.
Speaking to Turkish news outlet TRT Sport, as reported by FCInterNews, the 27-year-old gave his thoughts after he helped Turkey defeat Montenegro to earn a spot in the World Cup qualifying playoffs.
Turkey went into the Montenegro clash knowing that going further in the qualification was far from a guarantee, and that they needed a win against Montenegro to ensure that they would not finish third in their group behind the Netherlands and Norway and drop out of qualification entirely.
Things looked even more difficult after they went behind after less than three minutes played.
However, Calhanoglu and his teammates fought back to earn a 2-1 win which saw them finish second in the group behind the Dutch who had beaten Norway 2-0 at the same time.
Calhanoglu noted that Turkey coach Stefan Kuntz praised his role in the comeback, stating that “He told me that I was the best player on the pitch, not to listen to what people outside say, that I am one of the best players in this team.”
“I replied that I don’t care about what people say,” he went on, “that we are used to all this and that we know how to do what we have to.”
Calhanoglu added that “I thank my coach, who allows me to me play in my preferred position. I feel very comfortable where I play here, it’s the same position that I play for Inter, between a mezzala and a midfielder.”
