BERLIN (Reuters) – Turkey fullback Ferdi Kadioglu said he will have no problems with divided loyalties when his side meets the Netherlands in their Euro 2024 quarter-final on Saturday despite his strong family ties to both countries.
The 24-year-old defender is the son of a Turkish father and a Dutch-Canadian mother and played up to under-21 level for the Netherlands before switching his allegiance to Turkey in 2022.
“It will be a very special game for my family, and I think that a lot of fans will be from the Turkish side and it will feel like a home game,” a beaming Kadioglu told reporters on Friday.
Answering questions in fluent English and Dutch, Kadioglu said he understood Turkish but felt more comfortable in the other languages and that a lot had changed since he represented the “Oranje” at under-age level.
“If I compare myself to five years ago, I’m a totally different player, I played in a different position and also I was playing for the Netherlands,” he said.
“I made the decision two years ago to play for Turkey and I haven’t regretted it once. I’m very proud to wear the Turkish national team jersey.”
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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