Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu insisted his team controlled the match, standing firmly by the view he expressed before kickoff.
Reflecting on the performance, the Inter Milan midfielder pushed back when asked whether Turkey had truly been on top. “We didn’t dominate?” he replied.
A journalist challenged that assessment, saying: “No, I don’t think you did. Possession, sure.”
Calhanoglu, however, was unmoved. He argued that Turkey dictated the game, while Australia spent much of the contest sitting deep and defending. In his view, the result was shaped less by Australia’s overall play and more by Turkey’s own errors.
“We dominated today,” Calhanoglu said. “Australia was just behind, defending well.”
He also pointed to the nature of the goals conceded, describing them as the product of mistakes. “Two long goals, they scored. It was our mistakes,” he said.
