László Nagy, the Hungarian handball player who made more than 200 appearances for the Hungarian national handball team, announced his retirement from the sport earlier this May. Following his last match with Veszprém, his current team, in Veszprém Arena, the player gave an emotional farewell to fans.
On Thursday, Veszprém defeated Szeged (35-24) in the first match of the Men’s Handball Championship finals. During the match, three of Veszprém’s major players stepped into Veszprém Arena for the last time. After the match, the athletes said goodbye to their many supporters.
Momor Ilics announced his retirement a few days ago, goalkeeper Roland Mikler shared his decision to continue his career in Szeged and after making more than 200 appearances for the Hungarian national handball team, László Nagy announced (video from 28.55) his decision to retire from professional handball at the end of the season.
The 209 centimeters tall, 38-year-old right back began his professional handball career in Szeged. He then played in Barcelona for 12 years before eventually signing to Veszprém, where he spent seven years. With Barca, Nagy won the Champions League twice, the EHF Cup once and the Spanish Championship four times. With Veszprém, he won five championship titles, six Hungarian Cup victories, two SEHA League golds and played in the Champions League finals two times. He took fourth place in the Olympics twice and came in sixth in the World Cup with the Hungarian national team.
Listen to the legendary player’s farewell to fans below:
We’ve had as many good times as we’ve had bad, but personally, each one made me work harder and strive to be better. So, I would like to thank each and every one of you for these seven great years. I hope to achieve three more victories this year with you and the team. Go Veszprém!
The three victories he mentions are in reference to this year’s remaining matches: the Hungarian championship’s rematch and the Champions League Final Four.
In mid-April, László Nagy was elected Vice-President of the Hungarian Handball Association (MKSZ), which had already predicted his impending retirement from professional sports. From 1 July, the handball player will be the sports director of his current club, Veszprém.