Milli Takım interim coach Oğuz Çetin spoke to reporters after Saturday's 2-1 defeat to the United States at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. He acknowledged the fact that it was the final friendly for the US National Soccer Team before they embark on their trip to South Africa for the World Cup finals. "Especially in the second half, they showed a lot more will and ambition which gave them the edge," stated Çetin.

Turkey fell down 2-1 to the United States in Milli Takım's third and final friendly of their USA tour on Saturday. Crescent Stars interim coach Oğuz Çetin held a press conference after the game at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and commented on the match result and also spoke about how things generally went in the training camp.

Çetin began his words by acknowledging the fact that it was the US National Soccer Team's final friendly match before they embarked on their trip to South Africa and that they were fully ready for the World Cup finals. "Especially in the second half, they showed a lot more will and ambition which gave them the edge," he stated.

"It's upsetting to lose an international game of course; however, we had come here with the purpose of taking notes on the players," explained Oğuz Çetin. "In terms of Guus Hiddink getting to know our players more closely and also, physically and mentally, the USA tour was worthwhile for us," commented the Milli Takım assistant coach.

Oğuz Çetin continued by explaining that there were still several physical and tactical issues that the Milli Takım players had to work on and added that many things had become more clear for them, before their friendly against Romania in August. "Despite their end-of-the-season fatigue, the Milli Takım players were happy to take part in the training camp. They were all well-concentrated and did their best on the field," he stated.

"No matter how motivated you are, if you're playing against a team that's performing on high tempo, then there's bound to be a fall in physical performance," said Oğuz Çetin. "Each position on the field has to maintain tactical discipline without losing their mental concentration. That's what unfortunately happened to us in the second half - we lost our concentration," explained the Milli Takım interim coach.

The Crescent Stars coach was also asked by an American reporter to comment on the performance of the US National Soccer Team. "The USA side acts with team spirit. They possess a lot of individual talent, and yet they also look towards getting the result as a team," explained Oğuz Çetin. "However, they will be playing against some strong opponents in the World Cup," he added.

Team captain Emre Belözoğlu - also present at the press conference - stated that it was a very positive training camp period and also commented on their final match against the United States. "We only gave 60% of what was expected from us, but in the second half the USA side performed better than us," admitted the central midfielder. Emre also apologized to the Turkish fans that had come to watch the game in the Lincoln Financial Field, for the upsetting result.

(Photo courtesy of TFF.org & Anadolu Ajansı)