Wednesday, October 06, 2021
“Take us to Qatar”
Turkey does not let Kuntz arrive in peace
He should do nothing less than a small miracle. As the new national coach for Turkish footballers, Stefan Kuntz is under a lot of pressure. The team should still qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. A monster task that Erling Haaland could help with indirectly.
Stefan Kuntz laughs a lot during training, he jokes, he pats Hakan Calhanoglu and Co., takes his new players in his arms, looks deep into their eyes. His debut as national coach of Turkey is coming up, the tension is rising – and Kuntz has to swear his team in quickly and instill belief in their own strength.
The national team is all about “honor and pride,” said Kuntz before his first game for Turkey on Friday (8.45 p.m. / DAZN and in the ntv.de live ticker) in Istanbul against Norway. With full identification for the crescent and star, the German wants to somehow make it to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup – it will certainly not be easy.
“There are still four games in which we are trying to create a small miracle and still achieve this second place,” said Kuntz. With eleven points after six games, Turkey is currently third in the table, behind the Netherlands and Norway. Good for Kuntz and Co .: Star striker Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund is missing the Scandinavians injured.
Spent a lot of time on the plane
But Kuntz is much more concerned with his own team than his opponent. The 58-year-old didn’t have much time after his enthronement a good two weeks ago. Actually, he was constantly on the plane and traveled across Europe to get to know his new players. “Within two weeks I flew to Istanbul and back eight times, during this time I also watched the home games of Lille, Trabzonspor, Basaksehir and Galatasaray in the stadium and saw Fenerbahce in Frankfurt,” said Kuntz of the “kicker”: “I run on my travels almost always games or scenes of the players on the tablet, I make a lot of phone calls, with the players or within my network, which is now being expanded, in order to get as much information as possible about them. “
Kuntz gave full throttle at the start – and the public expected a lot from the ex-striker, who last led the German U21s to the European Championship final three times in a row and won the title twice. “Mr. Kuntz, bring us to Qatar,” wrote the “Fotomac” last.
Kuntz, whose contract runs until 2024, should build on the old successes as soon as possible – but big stars like before are currently in short supply. Since third place at the 2002 World Cup and the end of the European Championship in the semi-finals against Germany in 2008, not much has been going on for Turkey at the major tournaments – if it was there at all. But Kuntz asked for “patience”. In addition to the World Cup in Qatar, the EM 2024 in his home country Germany is already haunted in his head, he has big plans. “No player will have time to get bored here,” said Kuntz.