The city of Bolu dedicated a statue to the defender Merih Demiral. The sculpture depicting the controversial celebration of the Turkish international at the last European Championships was presented today, an celebration – the “salute of the gray wolves” after his second goal against Austria in the round of 16 of the 2024 European Championships in Germany – which also cost him a two-match ban by UEFA. However, the mayor of that city does not share this opinion Tanju Ozcanwho called Demiral’s gesture a symbol of Turkish identity rather than a reference to the ultranationalist MHP party. Hence, the idea of creating a statue ad hoc which divided social media.
UEFA has officially decided to suspend the Turkish footballer, Merih Demiral, for two matches, after the defender had shown
🗣️Bolu’ya Bozkurt yapan Merih Demiral heykelini diken Belediye Başkanı Tanju Özcan:
“Bozkurt Türklüğün, Türk Dünyasının simgesidir. MHP’nin falan değildir.”pic.twitter.com/oN9yBJzEjd
— Abluka (@ajansAbluka) October 4, 2024
Turkey’s squad
Demiral, meanwhile, has been called up by coach Vincenzo Montella for Turkey’s next matches against Montenegro and Iceland, matches valid for League B of the UEFA Nations League. Below is the complete list:
Goalkeepers: Bayindir, Gunok, Sengezer, Cakir.
Defenders: Bardakci, Topcu, Elmali, Kadioglu, Demiral, Muldur, Akaydin, Celik.
Midfielders: Karazor, Calhanoglu, Yuksek, Ayhan, Yokuslu, Kokcu.
Attackers: Kutucu, Guler, Yilmaz, Yildirim, Kahveci, Yildiz, Akturkoglu, Kiliçsoy, Akgun.