Key Player Will Be Missing from National Football Team for Weeks

Willi Orbán of Hungary (L) and Mojmir Chytil of the Czech Republic during the friendly football match between Hungary and the Czech Republic

Willi Orbán, the Hungarian footballer of RB Leipzig and defender of the Hungarian national team, is out for weeks with a knee injury, reports Nemzeti Sport.

The 30-year-old defender, who is also the team captain at Bundesliga club RB Leipzig, spent an hour on the pitch in the Hungarian national team’s 1-1 draw against the Czechs on Sunday.

Tests carried out in Leipzig on Monday showed that the injury to his right knee is so serious, that he will be out for 10 weeks.

+++ Personal-Update (1/2) +++

Unser Kapitän Willi #Orban hat sich beim EM-Qualifikationsspiel gegen Tschechien eine Verletzung am rechten Knie zugezogen. Der Abwehrspieler fällt ca. zehn Wochen aus. pic.twitter.com/USZZmyfKkf

— RB Leipzig (@RBLeipzig) September 12, 2023

This also means that he will miss the European Championship qualifiers at home against Serbia and away against Lithuania (October 14 and 17 ), and is unlikely to play in Bulgaria and at home to Montenegro (November 16 and 19).

Balázs Orbán, the prime minister’s political director, also wished the footballer a speedy recovery. On his social media page, he wrote that the Orbáns are notoriously tough, referring to the fact that they share the same surname, although they are not related. He added that he was confident that Willi Orbán would be back on the field soon.

The Hungarian national team will therefore be without another key player for the immediate future. Last October, goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi, Willi Orbán’s teammate at RB Leipzig in Germany, was also injured. Gulácsi started training with the team again before the European Championship qualifier with Serbia, but has yet to play.

Featured photo via MTI/Illyés Tibor