Turkey forward Burak Yılmaz ended his national team career following a penalty drama against Portugal during the World Cup qualifier match Thursday.
Turkey was knocked out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup after losing to Portugal 3-1 in a European Qualifiers playoff semifinal.
Near the end of the match at Porto's Dragao Stadium, when the score was 2-1, Turkey had a great chance to tie the score after it was awarded a penalty following a video assistant referee (VAR) review.
But the 36-year-old player, who scored Turkey’s first goal following a one-two with Cengiz Ünder, fired the penalty over the bar and failed to level the match.
After the match, coach Stefan Kuntz defended his striker, saying he had to let go of the misfortunate penalty kick.
“He needs to let himself go. (The penalty) was an important opportunity for the team, but sometimes you need luck, and that did not happen for us,” Kuntz said
But the Lille forward announced his retirement from the national team in a post-match interview.
“If I had scored the penalty, it would have been difficult for Portugal. I missed but why? I’m in shock as well,” Yılmaz said, as he apologized to the fans in his announcement.
Saying that his teammates and coach were extremely supportive of him, the Turkish forward said his decision was final.
“I would like to cut to the point. Today (Thursday) was my last match with the national team. There needs to be a change. Enes (Ünal), Umut (Bozok), Sedar Dursun, Halil (Dervişoğlu), Cenk (Tosun), Kenan Karaman. Just as I had taken the lead back then, now I need to pass it on to my teammates and support them externally,” he said.
“It is a final decision stripped of emotions. One that is taken rationally. This change needs to happen,” he said.
Yılmaz scored 31 goals in 77 appearances for Turkey since his debut in April 2006. He is the national team's second-highest all-time scorer.
