Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu was pleased to have been involved in Turkey’s recent friendly matches and felt they were important for the national team.
The former AC Milan man was on the scoresheet as Turkey defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in Gaziantep yesterday, whilst Stefan Kuntz’s side also registered a victory over Scotland by the same score on Wednesday in Diyarbakir.
In an interview with Turkish television broadcaster NTVSpor after the final whistle at the Gaziantep Stadium, and as reported by FCInterNews.it, Calhanoglu was grateful to the supporters and to his teammates, whilst arguing that the wins were a good springboard for the start of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign in March.
“The fans didn’t leave us, the atmosphere was very good. We wanted to reflect the performance of the last match. Of course, we had difficulties from time to time, but in the end we held on to win,” Calhanoglu claimed.
“We fought well, I thank my team-mates for their performances. These friendlies did us good, we played with enthusiasm, now we have to prepare the next matches in March.”
Calhanoglu scored his 17th goal for the Turkish national team and revealed the psychological battle that he won over Czech goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka.
“I saw the goalkeeper clearly at that moment and moved it directly to his left. He thought I would aim for the far corner, so I shot hard at the corner near to him. It was a nice goal,” he concluded.
Calhanoglu joined Inter from Milan in 2021 and has made 66 appearances for the Nerazzurri, scoring 11 goals.
