By Ian Ransom
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, June 18 (Reuters) - Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella said on Thursday harsh criticism following his side's opening World Cup defeat by Australia had been demoralising for his younger players, and they deserved more support as they prepare for a potentially critical match against Paraguay.
Widely backed before the tournament to challenge the United States for top spot in Group D, Turkey were upset 2-0 by the Socceroos and another loss to Paraguay at the San Francisco
Bay Area stadium on Friday could leave their tournament in jeopardy.
Montella said he expected some discontent after the opener in Vancouver but was taken aback by the response after one match.
"It doesn't bother me because I'm a little bit older and I'm able to switch off from that, but a lot of our players are only 20 years of age," the Italian told reporters.
"They are young guys, so they can suffer in that sort of situation.
"I think we've been pretty firm and harsh at home, and I think over the last few days that certainly had an impact on the players' morale.
"They're men, they're not robots, not machines. So they have been affected by how overboard some of the reactions have been."
Montella said it was futile trying to shield players from reactions on social media but efforts had been made to take them out of the football bubble, with players' families welcomed into the camp on Thursday.
"We had two very enjoyable hours, two hours where we certainly didn't give any thought to what we need to do tomorrow out there on the pitch," he said.
With Paraguay thumped 4-1 by co-hosts United States in their opener in Los Angeles, both sides in the Bay Area match will be desperate for points, and the equation will become clearer after the U.S. face Australia earlier in the day on Friday.
Montella said he might make changes to his starting 11 but they would only be for tactical reasons and not related to performance.
He said three years of progress for Turkish football should not be undone by a single defeat.
"Those that don't start the game, it's not necessarily that we should point the finger at those players if they're left out," he added.
"This team has produced some great results over the last three years, and I think that we deserve a little bit more respect, even if we could have done a bit better."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
