Vincenzo Montella praised Turkiye's soul and belief following their victory over Austria in Leipzig on Tuesday.
Merih Demiral's double ensured Montella's side progressed to the quarter-finals of a European Championships for the first time since 2008.
"No one gave up," Montella said. "Everyone gave a bit extra in terms of their soul, and for a head coach, you know that there are matches such as these and you can only win matches such as these if there is a soul within the squad.
"There's that belief, that conviction. I could go on all night, but I saw all of those attributes, and that makes me very proud."
However, the result could have been so much different if it was not for the fingertips of Mert Gunok.
With the game ticking towards the fourth and final minute of injury time, Christoph Baumgartner saw his header brilliantly tipped behind by the Besiktas goalkeeper.
The triumph was of huge significance to the Turkiye head coach, having seen his side lose 6-1 to Austria in an international friendly back in March.
"That was a horrible stain on my career," Montella said. "That was the team that I was really waiting for, to try and get this monkey off my back.
"So I respect Austria, I respect their head coach, I respect their game plan, the tactics that they implemented on the pitch. But we head coaches, just like footballers, are competitors.
"And I had that real competitive instinct deep within me because I wanted to change this result. It was only a friendly, but there's no such thing as a friendly at international level."
Montella's side face the Netherlands in Berlin this Saturday for a place in the semi-finals and set up a potential tie against England.
"We've got huge following. There's passion and the love is really visceral back home in Turkey, so I'm very happy to have handed Turks a bit of pride," he said.
"So this responsibility, this love and support, we constantly feel it. But you can only really embrace these dreams if you work hard right from day one. We've done that right from the outset. We'll really celebrate tonight, but as of tomorrow, we get down to work."
Spain 2-1 Germany (aet): Merino's last-gasp header sinks Euro 2024 hosts
Mikel Merino's last-gasp header sent Spain into the semi-finals of Euro 2024 as La Roja beat hosts Germany 2-1 after extra time.
Florian Wirtz's 89th-minute strike had cancelled out Dani Olmo's calm finish in a frantic encounter in Stuttgart on Friday.
Yet having had the best chances of extra time, Germany became the first Euros hosts to lose a quarter-final when Merino brilliantly headed home Spain's latest ever goal in the competition in the 119th minute.
Niclas Fullkrug's header was just inches away from rescuing Germany and setting up penalties, but Luis de la Fuente's team, who had Dani Carvajal sent off late on, held on to tee up a clash with either Portugal or France.
Pedri's early injury saw Olmo come on, and the substitute sparked a slow-burner of a contest into life in the 51st minute.
After seeing Alvaro Morata lash over from close range, Olmo made no mistake when he side-footed home from Lamine Yamal's cutback.
Simon made a fantastic save from Robert Andrich's drive, before the post came to Spain's salvation when Niclas Fullkrug's effort clipped off the right-hand upright.
Germany should have been level when Simon made a calamitous clearance soon after, but with the goal at his mercy, Havertz chipped over.
But Havertz's blushes were spared by Wirtz, who drilled in off the post after latching onto Joshua Kimmich's knockdown.
Wirtz had the best chance of the first half of extra time, sending a low effort just wide, before chaos broke out.
Germany saw a penalty appeal turned down after Jamal Musiala hit Marc Cucurella's arm, and Simon saved a fantastic Fullkrug header.
With penalties beckoning, Spain broke clear, and La Roja were in ecstasy as Merino planted in from Olmo's inch-perfect cross.
Ferran Torres' poor finish moments later could have proved costly had Fullkrug's attempt been half a yard to the left, but it was not to be for Germany, even though Spain were reduced to 10 for the final minute after Carvajal picked up his second booking.
Spain call on the super-subs as Lamal sparkles again
Olmo is now the first Spain player to score two goals as a substitute at a single edition of the Euros, and third at any major tournament, after Fernando Morientes at the 2002 World Cup and Morata at the 2022 edition of that competition.
The RB Leipzig attacker is also the second player to have scored in two consecutive knockout stage appearances for Spain at the European Championships, after Chus Pereda way back in 1964.
And Merino's winner meant Spain have now scored two goals from substitutes in a single Euros match for just the second time, after the Euro 2012 final against Italy.
There has been no such scoring luck so far for Yamal at Euro 2024, with the youngster having had 13 shots without finding the back of the net (only Cristiano Ronaldo, with 20, has had more attempts and not scored at this tournament).
However, he again showcased his creative talents, laying on three chances and taking his tally of assists for the tournament to three. He is the first-ever teenager to record three assists at a single edition of the Euros or World Cup.
Musiala cannot find the magic touch
Jamal Musiala went into Friday's tie having scored in three of Germany's four previous games, and aiming to move clear at the top of the Euro 2024 scoring charts and match Wayne Rooney (at Euro 2004) as the only player to score four goals at a single edition of the tournament while aged 21 or younger.
Yet the Bayern Munich playmaker struggled to wield his usual influence on proceedings, creating only one chance, and though his fellow youngster Wirtz shined, it was not enough for the hosts.
There will be more major tournament opportunities for Musiala and Wirtz, but at the other end of the age spectrum, Toni Kroos made his final appearance before retirement. The 34-year-old finished the match with 83 passes attempted, the most on the pitch.
Montella: 'Unfair' Demiral ban will spur Turkiye on against Netherlands
Turkiye will show even more passion after the "unfair" suspension handed to Mehdi Demiral, so says coach Vincenzo Montella.
Demiral scored both of Turkiye's goals in their 2-1 last-16 win over Austria at Euro 2024 on Tuesday.
That victory teed up a quarter-final with the Netherlands, but Turkiye will have to go up against the Dutch without their key defender Demiral.
The centre-back was handed a two-game ban by UEFA on Friday, due to having celebrated with a 'wolf salute', which is associated with a far-right extremist group Grey Wolves.
Montella hit out at that decision in his pre-match press conference.
He said: "We consider it unfair, this ban because it was not a political gesture. It was interpreted as such, but it was just something that was not properly understood.
"But this will not put a break on the Turkish pride. Actually, we will be more passionate, more proud.
"We want to make the country proud, and I'm sure we will all be highly motivated, and this goes for the fans as well.
"Our fans have been extraordinary so far, full of passion. They really have conveyed to us all the passion and love, from the hotel to the stadium, back to the hotel.
"We have always been very correct as well. And that's what I expect from them tomorrow – great support."
Turkiye have reached the quarter-final of a major tournament for the fourth time, and for the first time since Euro 2008, when they reached the semis.
Montella has given six starts to teenagers at Euro 2024 – three for Kenan Yildiz and three for Arda Guler – a joint-record in a single edition of the finals, along with Spain at Euro 2020.
Guler has been one of the stars of the tournament, but Montella knows that his young team must keep a lid on their emotions against the Dutch.
"They must show Turkish pride, they must be close to the team and support us, even when we are having hard times. Now regarding Merhi, we have to manage our emotions before the match, during the match, internal emotions, external emotions," he said.
"We are the youngest team at the tournament, and emotions factor in when you play these matches," Montella added.
"Some players are more experienced, they're used to playing certain matches, they're used to preparing for these matches and they have a bit of an edge.
"So we must be able to manage all of this emotional sphere and transform it into energy and field it because we're younger, and in a way we can have more energy, and this can give us an edge."
Messi 'trained with fear' ahead of Argentina's Copa America clash with Ecuador
Lionel Messi was fearful ahead of his return to action for Argentina at the Copa America.
Messi sat out Argentina's win over Peru in the group stage, but despite Lionel Scaloni saying the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner was a doubt to feature against Ecuador in the quarters, he started on Thursday.
The 37-year-old had just 32 touches in a 1-1 draw, marking his fewest touches in a competitive match for his country in which he has played 90 minutes since 2011.
Messi subsequently missed his penalty in the shootout, but goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez spared his blushes in a 4-2 victory for the defending Copa America champions.
When asked how he had been feeling ahead of the tie, Messi told reporters (via The Athletic): "The truth is bad.
"With a lot of uncertainty, with lots of fear when I was training, a lot of desire to be here and doing everything possible to be able to play.
"I was able to be here and [help] the team."
Messi explained it was no surprise to Argentina that they faced such a stern challenge from Ecuador.
"The truth is it was a difficult match, which was very hard to play," Messi added.
"We knew it was going to be that way because they’re a great team, a hard team who press well, who have intense, dynamic players, and when they have the ball they do damage as well.
"We expected this kind of game."
Argentina have now extended their unbeaten streak against Ecuador to 17 matches at the Copa America (W11 D6). This is the third longest unbeaten run for La Albiceleste against a single opponent in the competition, following a 30-match run against Chile (W22 D8, excluding penalty shootouts) and 26 against Paraguay (W20 D6).
Messi and Co. will face either Canada or Venezuela in the last four.
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