BERLIN: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has praised the national team as “our champions” after a narrow 2-1 defeat against Holland in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
Erdogan visited the team post-match late on Saturday in the dressing room in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. He had flown in for the match together with his wife, Emine.
“I congratulate all of you. You are our champions regardless of today’s result,” Turkish media quoted Erdogan as telling the players.
Erdogan said the team have potential and “we will continue this work in the future.”
The president shook hands with all players, including defender Merih Demiral, who missed the match due to a two-game suspension imposed by the ruling body UEFA for making the controversial wolf salute after scoring in the last-16 match against Austria.
Erdogan said earlier in the week that Demiral had only shown his “enthusiasm” with the gesture. — dpa
