With the success in Belgrade, Marco Rossi's team now leads the group with 10 points at the halfway stage.Continue reading
The Hungarian national football team remained undefeated in their eighth match in a row, drawing 1-1 at home to the Czech Republic. Roland Sallai and Václáv Jurecka scored the goals in the friendly match.
Marco Rossi’s side took the lead through Roland Sallai’s goal in the 52nd minute, and then ten minutes later Vaclav Jurecka equalized after Ádám Lang’s short header. The national team is now undefeated in eight meetings. The Italian coach unveiled a newcomer in Krisztofer Horváth at Puskás Arena.
The Hungarians will next host Serbia on October 14 in the European Championship qualifying series, where they are leading Group G with ten points.
The scorer Roland Sallai (C). Photo via MTI/Hegedüs Róbert
From the first minute, it was clear that the sides were not playing a friendly match, as the players were not cautious and immediately went on the attack after winning the ball. Accordingly,
both teams led promising actions, but the defenders mostly stood their ground, the only exception being Sallai’s chance, when the Freiburg striker shot into the Czech goalkeeper.
The second half of the match was another evenly contested affair, however the Hungarian side had the ball more and were more dangerous in this period, though they failed to take the lead as the Czech keeper made a great diving save from Attila Szalai’s shot and Sallai’s effort was off target.
The Hungarian fans. Photo via MTI/Hegedüs Róbert
After the half-time change, the visitors started more actively, but the Hungarians took the lead after a quick throw-in at the end of a masterly move. The joy of the near-capacity crowd was short-lived, as Lang’s short headed ball was followed up with a goal by the opposition. Overall, the minutes were filled with field play, but there were also some rough tackles and shoving, which seemed a little unusual for a friendly match.
The biggest chance after the equalizer came from Dominik Szoboszlai’s 17-meter free-kick, but the Liverpool star missed the top left corner.
Even Milos Kerkez had a promising effort that ended up in the side netting. As the match went into extra time, the atmosphere on the pitch remained tense, with neither team able to turn the match in their favor.
After the match, Rossi said he was moved by the fact that more than 50,000 fans turned up on Sunday for a friendly match between the Hungarian national football team and the Czech Republic, chanting his name several times.
Marco Rossi (L) and Milos Kerkez (R). Photo via MTI/Hegedüs Róbert
Tonight’s match proved that when national teams play each other, there are no friendly matches. There were some insults and roughness because everyone wanted to win this balanced match.
I think we had more clear-cut chances, but this time we were worse in terms of positioning than three days ago in Serbia,” said the Italian coach, assessing the 1-1 draw with the Czechs.
Goal scorer Sallai stressed that no match is taken lightly. “We are fighting for our country so we have to suffer for every single goal,” he said, and then noted that there were several mistakes in the Hungarian game. “Maybe it is because the match against Serbia took a lot out of us. We played a draw and we are happy about that, but we are not completely happy.”
Via MTI, Featured image via Facebook/MLSZ – Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség