"The first game is always the more important, even though it's not the one that decides the final results because you can gain points in future games, but of course, I think of this game as a game that is going to be important and that is going to help in the future path of our team," he said, as quoted by Reuters.
Montella defended his current roster against historical criticism, clarifying that the modern players bear no responsibility for the lengthy qualification drought that preceded their arrival.
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"I like telling my players that our success it's not their fault that Turkiye was not at the World Cup for 24 years, but they can be proud that we can be here again after 24 years and now they need to be playing at their best, give the game their all and just avoid thinking about the other stuff," he added.
