A star of the Turkish national team fires back at Australia! 'A ridiculous statement'

Our National Soccer Team will take the field at the World Cup again for the first time since 2002. Our stars shared their thoughts ahead of the match against Australia.

'A COMICAL STATEMENT'

İsmail Yüksek said: "Honestly, we need to put our excitement aside now. Because the tournament has begun for us. Starting tomorrow, we’re officially kicking off the tournament. It’s a major tournament. We’re excited. Representing our country in such a tournament is a great honor for us. Hopefully, we’ll go as far as we’ve dreamed. Some funny statements came from the Australian side. They’re probably trying to put pressure on us, but in my opinion, it’s a funny statement. They don’t know us. I don’t think they know much about the pressure in Turkey.”

"We also achieved a great success at the European Championship. When we went there, many of our teammates had no prior experience at the European Championship. We have teammates on our squad who play for top-tier teams. High-quality, character-driven... Yes, this is the first time this squad will be participating in the World Cup, but I think we’ve shown in previous tournaments that we can truly rise to the challenge."

'WE’RE EAGERLY AWAITING IT'

Hakan Çalhanoğlu, meanwhile, said: "We’ve finally made it to the tournament after 24 years. What matters now is writing new stories. After all, we’re in the tournament, and we’re enjoying it. Everything is great and pleasant, but now it’s time to get serious. Everyone is fully prepared for tomorrow. We’re eagerly awaiting the match. Everyone is 100% ready right now. Our opponents may seem easy on paper, but they’re not. After all, Australia is a physical team. They can be dangerous, especially on set pieces. In my opinion, they’ll play like Kosovo. A team that sits back and looks to counterattack. Paraguay is the same—they have technically skilled players. Both shots and set pieces are important for us. After all, we have effective players: Orkun, Arda, and myself... We have good players in aerial duels. Of course, we need to use all our strengths on the field. And of course, the U.S. There are good players in the U.S. too, but as I said, we’ll look at this match and then see what comes next. We respect every opponent, but we know our own strength.

We know where we’re playing, we know which clubs we’re playing for, and we know which tournaments we’ve been through. I saw the statements yesterday too. Of course, it’s better for us; let them think that way. We know our own quality. Hopefully, we’ll demonstrate that tomorrow as well.

This is the moment everyone has been waiting for, especially us. We’ve been waiting a long time for today. We’ve gotten used to the heat; we want to play our game without making excuses. Every country will be playing in this heat. Our respect for our opponents is boundless. We’ve done our analysis; we need to be very careful on set pieces. Hopefully all the way to the final. That’s our goal!"

'WE’RE VERY READY'

Ozan Kabak added: "We’re very, very ready. We’ve been in camp for three weeks already. We’ve been in the U.S. for nearly 10–15 days. We had great training sessions in Arizona and arrived here early to adapt. I don’t even need to mention team spirit—you can probably feel it yourselves. Morale is high. Starting the tournament well is very important. Hopefully, we’ll start tomorrow in the best possible way and carry that momentum throughout the tournament.

It really doesn’t matter who plays. Because as a team, you can achieve something. The tournament is a long process. We need everyone—whether they play or not. So, to be honest, there’s no such atmosphere within the team."