Coach Montella praises Turkey fans but avoids wolf salute matter

Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella praised the Turkish fans for creating a home atmosphere during the 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on Saturday, but avoided making comments about the controversial wolf salute.

Some 200,000 people with Turkish roots live in Berlin and Turkish fans were the majority at the Olympic stadium.

"The atmosphere is always like home. They supported us until the end, but this pride, this passion towards the team has been seen from day one, not only during matches," he told a news conference.

"What makes me really proud is seeing that even after the defeat the people showed love for what we showed during the tournament. That gives me a lot of joy. We need to keep fuelling this passion with our performance. Then you can either win or lose.

"We need to keep growing, keep improving, because the future is on our side," he side.

Montella, however, refused to address the situation surrounding the controversial wolf salute.

Defender Merih Demiral was banned for two games by tournament organizer UEFA for making the gesture, which is attributed, among other things, to a far-right extremist movement.

The movement known as “Ülkücü” or “grey wolves” are linked to political allies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the ultra-nationalist MHP in Turkey.

"It's very hard and complicated to talk about football after a match, so I don't have the strength to talk about anything else," Montella told journalists.

Erdogan, who was attended the match with his wife, has defended the wolf gesture.