Stefan Kuntz doesn't want to do "his" game in Berlin to himself
He is no longer on the bench, but there is still a lot of Stefan Kuntz in the Turkish national team. The international match against Germany should have been his game. But now the pain is still too deep. The 61-year-old will not be going to the stadium on Saturday.
Stefan Kuntz won't do that to himself. When tens of thousands of Turkish fans cheer on "his" team on Saturday, the former "A Milli" coach would rather sit in front of the television than in Berlin's seething Olympic Stadium. The deep wound of the separation is still too fresh - and hurts him too much. "There are definitely still emotions," admitted Kuntz. Because his big dream of coaching Turkey at the European Championship in Germany is "over", he told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers. "That", Kuntz added with great regret, "would have been something very special". Woulda, woulda, coulda - it wasn't.
Kuntz was sacked in September after exactly two years in office - and had to stand idly by and watch as his successor Vincenzo Montella led "his" team to Euro 2024. "The fact that the team finally qualified shortly after the separation with an almost unchanged line-up was emotionally painful," Kuntz wrote in "Kicker". And the 61-year-old still feels this pinch - as well as a certain pride in what he sees as his rather large part in the Turkish success story. "I'm extremely pleased that the successful path we started has also been successfully completed," he said, adding tellingly: "My successor has changed very little."
The international match was his idea
Montella's squad for Saturday's match (8.45pm/RTL and live ticker on ntv.de) and the final qualifier in Wales still contains twelve (!) players who made their debut under Kuntz. With a points average of 1.95 in his 20 international matches, his record was anything but bad. Why did he still leave? "After the board that hired me quit, it was clear that the new management would bring in their own people," said Kuntz. And so he will not be able to reap the rewards of his work either at the European Championship or in Berlin. The international match was actually his idea.
"Hansi Flick and I spoke on the phone. The feedback was positive," reported Kuntz. "Playing against Germany in Germany had a special background with the European Championship. We wanted to spend several days in Berlin beforehand and get in the mood with the fans." Montella, on the other hand, only arrived with his team on Thursday afternoon - and with an ailing captain: Hakan Calhanoglu, like three other players in the squad born in Germany, is suffering from a respiratory infection. Nevertheless, the Turks have big plans.
"We have a young team," said Montella, "it's getting better and better." At his start in October with the surprising victory at World Cup third-placed Croatia (1:0), he had it "easy" due to all the quality, he said. Stefan Kuntz knows why.
Despite being sacked and Montella leading Turkey to Euro 2024, Stefan Kuntz is proud of the team's continuous success, with many players debuting under his tenure. Interestingly, the idea of playing an international match against Germany in Germany was initially Kuntz's concept.
Source: www.ntv.de
