Hakan Calhanoglu highlighted his respect for the Azzurri despite the play-off defeat, ahead of their upcoming friendly against Turkey.
Turkey also fell in a World Cup play-off last week, losing 3-1 to Portugal in heartbreaking fashion. Talismanic forward Burak Yilmaz could have scored the equaliser with an 85th minute penalty but he blasted the ball over the ball, wasting the chance and allowed the Portuguese to kill off the match. They’ll miss out on the World Cup in Qatar later this year, joining Italy on the sidelines.
Speaking in a press conference today, Calhanoglu first touched on the responsibility of wearing the captain’s armband.
“I am aware of the responsibility of captain, I hope to wear it with pride. Everyone should take responsibility, me above all because I have been wearing this shirt since 2015. The clock is ticking.”
He touched on Inter’s position in the Serie A title race this season and their upcoming schedule.
“When I return to Italy I need to focus on my club and the league. As soon as I come back we’ll play against Juve, Milan are leading the table but we’re one game behind.
“I hope that, when I come back, we’ll be able to take the lead thanks to victories.”
Finally, Calhanoglu discussed a possible change of formation for the friendly against Italy and he spoke about their play-off disaster against North Macedonia.
“I’m happy with the system with the three-man defence, I play with it at Inter and I’m used to it. Now we have to play with this system too, they all play like this in the qualifiers.
“I think the game with Italy will go well, both teams will not be able to participate in the World Cup and they are sad. The people of Konya have always been good to us and I hope they can see a good game tomorrow.
“Italy are always one of my favourites and I have always liked their system of play. They are a team that places great importance on tactics and they have quality players. I always have the utmost respect for them.”
Italy and Turkey will meet in a fairly meaningless friendly tomorrow evening at 18.45 in Konya.
#Calhanoglu : 'Rispetto per l' #Italia , al rientro mi concentrerò sull' #Inter . #Milan avanti, ma spero di andare in testa' #TurchiaItalia https://t.co/ydb6KdIkdW pic.twitter.com/GwjDp1zebL
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) March 28, 2022
whatever snake
That’s right @square.
Perhaps the most amicable thing that has come out of his forked tongue since he left the red and black side of Milan.
Serie A/Italy is his bread and butter so he chose his words carefully.