"Always the first enemy"

Team boss comes under fire after European Championship line-up

Fierce headwind for Vincenzo Montella(Bild: INA FASSBENDER)

A look at the line-ups caused many Turkish fans to shake their heads in disbelief. While Portugal's superstar Cristiano Ronaldo played from the start in Saturday's 3:0 win at the European Championships and ended up being the target of numerous selfie hunters, shooting star Arda Güler was only on the bench. The 19-year-old Real Madrid attacker, already dubbed the "Turkish Messi", was left out by team boss Vincenzo Montella due to his fitness.

After the game, Montella had to justify his decision in no uncertain terms. "When you lose, the first enemy is always the coach," said the 50-year-old. "Those who didn't play are of course often the most important players for the media. Arda simply wasn't fit enough today. He couldn't play more than 30 minutes without taking major risks." He gave in at the end of the day and let him play after all.

Arda Güler(Bild: AFP or licensors)

Montella had substituted Güler in the 70th minute with the score at 3-0. In the 3-1 win over Georgia in the first group game four days earlier, the left-footer had played a major part in Turkey's success with a dream goal to make it 2-1 and was celebrated by the fans. The numerous Turkish supporters in the Dortmund stadium chanted the name of the Real Madrid professional again and again against Portugal.

Relationship intact according to Montella
Montella emphasized that his relationship with Güler is intact. "We have a great relationship. He's a smart guy," said the Italian coach. "He is very passionate about his country, he is very proud of his country. Even though he knew he was risking injury, he wanted to play."

Even Güler could do nothing to change the defeat, but Turkey (3 points) remained second in Group F behind Portugal (6) and ahead of the Czech Republic (1) and Georgia (1).