Craig Bellamy: “Tomorrow’s match will be a different challenge than the previous one.”

Wales national team head coach Craig Bellamy said that the match they will play against Turkey tomorrow will be more difficult than the match played in Cardiff in September.

Wales, which will host the Turkish National Football Team in the UEFA Nations League B Group 4 match tomorrow, conducted its final training at Kadir Has Stadium. Speaking at the press conference held after the training, Wales head coach Craig Bellamy expressed that the match they played against Turkey, which ended in a goalless draw, would be different from the match they will play tomorrow. Bellamy stated, “The previous match was a big test for us. It was my first look at the players. I was also stepping out for the first time. The first match may have been difficult, but it was really nice to play against a team that views football with such passion as Turkey. Tomorrow’s match will present a different challenge than the previous one. It is great to come back to a passionate country in terms of football. Playing with the players in Turkey is also very nice. The question of how we will play becomes our main test. How good we are on the ball, what strategies we need to implement… After getting answers to these, we need to be good in terms of results in football. I will improve this team with our strategies, but we need to be dominant. We ask ourselves questions not only in international matches but in all matches. We have played 6 matches, and one of them has given us realistic perspectives so far. We think we have progressed well so far. We say tomorrow will be good too, but still, I don’t know what will happen. I constantly ask ‘who are we.’ We have experienced beautiful things so far, we have come well, and we will be good tomorrow too. As we develop, we will come out strong in every match. It is hard to be the best at everything. We haven’t taken an easy road, but in the end, we are improving ourselves.”

“It’s nice to play here”

To a question about the atmosphere of Kadir Has Stadium, Bellamy said, “It’s really exciting. I have seen photos of the stadium before. We know that we are familiar with the stadium. When we look at Turkey as a whole, there are such beautiful stadiums. They also have good coaches. The people here are friendly. It’s a beautiful geography. It’s really nice to play here. They are really passionate about football. The players here are very excited but also experienced.”

“We are trying to understand their manager”

In response to a question about how he finds the performance of Turkey head coach Vincenzo Montella, Bellamy said, “We are trying to understand their managers. We saw what they did in EURO 2024. We are always expecting a different situation. We have ideas about how it will be in matches after ours. There are different roles. Therefore, we are observing all the matches from the past weeks.”