Hamit Altintop is undoubtedly a great football figure for Turkey. The former international footballer who distinguished himself in several European teams (Wattensijde, Schalke, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Galatasaray, Darmstadt) while wearing the shirt of his national team 82 times, scoring 7 goals.

He wrote his own special story. After all, we must not forget that the midfielder was a member of the Turkish national team that reached the semi-finals of the 2008 European Championship (held in Austria-Switzerland) and in 2010 won the "Puskas" award from FIFA as he had scored the best goal of the season , in the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Kazakhstan…

Now an ambassador for the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final which has finally come true…

"Yes indeed, the time has come for Turkey to host the final of Europe's top club competition, the Champions League. We had secured twice but the pandemic did not allow us to do so. Now I think that everything is going well and in June we will see top teams in the Olympic stadium fighting for supremacy..." says Hamit Altintop in the long interview he granted exclusively to Manos Staramopoulos of Discoveryfootball.com in Istanbul.

DF: Hamit, which teams do you see reaching high in the Champions League this year?

"But of course most of the ones we see in recent years. Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern, Liverpool, Manchester City and why not Atlético, which has a very good coach, Diego Simeone.."

DF: For the most important award of the year, the Ballon d'Or which especially this year will be awarded before the final phase of the World Cup and of course will not include a footballer from this top competition?

R/: But of course who else? Karim Benzema, the Real Madrid centre-forward who has had an amazing season and contributed the most to his team dominating Europe once again...”

DF: In November we will have the final phase of the World Cup. Which teams do you consider as favorites?

R/: "The holder of the trophy, France. Spain which has a young team, Argentina which has Messi in his last perhaps top national football event. England, which has been looking for a big trophy for many years, and Germany, which is capable of everything..."

DF: Let's go back a bit. This year we saw an amazing Real Madrid sweeping everyone in its path... What do you think is the reason for its amazing performances?

R/: "First of all in the experience and class of its players. It wasn't just Benzema who played a big role in winning the trophy. It was the amazing goalkeeper, Courtois who, as many times as needed, declared himself present. Modric with Kroos dominating the midfield. The young Vinicius who has bright pages of glory ahead of him and of course the coach, the Italian, Carlo Ancelotti who had a way of guiding his team exactly as it should be. Of course, his son, who is an analyst, also helped him a lot in this, as well as the other members of his coaching team..."