Tuesday, September 14, 2021
“There is interest and contact”
Kuntz is said to be the Turkish national coach
That would be a big surprise: According to the Turkish media, U21 European champion coach Stefan Kuntz will soon be on the sidelines for the Turkish national team. The coach is reportedly scheduled to fly to Istanbul today and negotiate with national team director Hamit Altintop.
U21 European champion coach Stefan Kuntz is to become the new Turkish national soccer coach. This is reported by the Turkish media and even posted Kuntz’s boarding pass for a flight to Istanbul this afternoon on Twitter. Negotiations with the new national team director and ex-Bundesliga professional Hamit Altintop are to be started there. “Yes, there is interest and contact,” the 58-year-old confirmed to “Bild”. The Turkish newspaper “Hürriyet” reported that talks had also been held with the former German world champion and national coach Jürgen Klinsmann.
Kuntz, European champion from 1996, was once a professional at Besiktas Istanbul (1995/96). After the European Championship triumph this summer with the U21s, the former goalscorer was also traded as the national coach of the German senior national team. However, the German Football Association (DFB) gave ex-Bayern coach Hansi Flick as successor to Joachim Loew the confidence.
At the beginning of September Kuntz had confirmed the “interest of associations and clubs” in his person. “It’s normal for that to make you think,” said the 58-year-old. Kuntz had recently reached the European Championship finals three times in a row with the U21s and won the title twice. The DFB has always hoped that his successful coach would stay on. Kuntz had recently been “cautiously optimistic” about his new year in comparison to the previous generation. Especially off the field, the team is already very far. “The guys talk a lot and give their opinion. I think it’s great that we’re discussing more at a good level,” said the former international. In addition, everyone in the team contributes to the team spirit. “The boys are taking it very well so far.”
Last Friday, the Turkish association parted ways with Senol Günes after a number of failures. The sporting downturn in the past weeks and months has been fatal for the 69-year-old coach.
Qualification for the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar is also in danger. In the World Cup qualifying group G, after a 1: 6 disgrace in Amsterdam, the team is only in third place behind the Netherlands and Norway. Turkey had disappointed heavily in the pan-European European Championship finals in the summer after three defeats and only one goal and had already failed in the group stage.
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