Daniele Santarelli: “I give all my energy to Türkiye!”

Türkiye’s women’s national volleyball team finished the summer exactly as planned, beating Italy 3-2 in the Trendyol 2026 CEV European Championship final. Coach Daniele Santarelli said the team had produced an extraordinary performance against one of the world’s best sides.

“We finished the summer the way we wanted. We achieved incredible things. Our federation and our team did something truly miraculous,” Santarelli told reporters after the match at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall. He said the players should feel proud of themselves, the team and their work.

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We finished the summer the way we wanted. We achieved incredible things. Our federation and our team did something truly miraculous. Today, we fought on the court with a great performance against one of the best teams in the world. We achieved something truly incredible. That is why we should be proud of ourselves, our team and our work.

Santarelli acknowledged that Türkiye had struggled badly in the third set. The team looked anxious in attack, made simple errors in serve reception and offense, and became too nervous. Against a team of Italy’s quality, he said, such mistakes can be punished severely.

He changed his lineup for the fourth set, starting Saliha Şahin because Italy had put pressure on Derya Cebecioğlu in reception. He wanted a stronger passer and then sought help from every player on the bench. The team responded, recovered its balance and produced what he called an incredible fourth set.

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I am Italian. You all know that, but I work for Türkiye. I give all my energy to Türkiye.

Santarelli also spoke about facing his own country in the final. “I am Italian. You all know that, but I work for Türkiye. I give all my energy to Türkiye,” he said. He added that he loves the country and its people, and that he and his staff were giving everything to achieve success with the team.

He described the final as a difficult day under pressure, thanked the federation and said he was very happy to work in Türkiye. Captain Eda Erdem Dündar also said the team had reached the goals it had set for the summer.

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I love this country very much. I love the people of this country very much. I really, really want to achieve something with this country and succeed in this way.