He also managed to win the title again after his first time nine years ago.Continue reading
The Hungarian national football team won 2-1 away against Azerbaijan in a friendly match on Tuesday.
The visitors took the lead in the fifth minute with a header from Barnabás Varga, but three minutes later Renat Dadasov equalized from a corner kick. In the 33rd minute, Dominik Szoboszlai scored, and the result remained unchanged after the break.
National team coach Marco Rossi’s team ended its five-game winless streak with this victory and triumphed again after three consecutive defeats.
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Although Azerbaijan has a national stadium with a capacity of nearly 70,000, this match was held at the Dalga Arena. Accommodating only 6,500 spectators, it is located far from the modern city center, but only a few kilometers from the Caspian Sea coast. The main group of home fans announced a boycott due to the national team’s poor performance. Azerbaijan last won a match almost exactly a year ago, thus dropping to the lowest division of the Nations League.
As a result, the stands presented a sad picture, with only about 1,200 spectators watching the match between the two teams, including about a hundred Hungarian fans.
This time, the Hungarians achieved what team coach Rossi and the players had hoped for: they capitalized on their first chance in the fifth minute through Barnabás Varga. However, they could not enjoy their lead for long, as the home team equalized after a corner kick. Admittedly, Dadasov’s goal would likely have been disallowed for handball if there had been a video referee, as he used his hand to put the ball in front of him. Debutant goalkeeper Balázs Tóth had no chance against it.
The visitors continued to dominate the game, but they had to wait until the 25th minute for another chance, when Orbán had a dangerous header from a corner. The game slowed down a little, but the Hungarian national team took the lead again, with Varga setting up the goal and Szoboszlai finishing it off. The scenario after the first goal almost repeated itself, but the header from the corner went wide.
Members of the Hungarian national team after the Azerbaijan-Hungary friendly football match at the Dalga Arena in Baku. MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
After the break, the Hungarians dominated, but they had to wait until the 64th minute for their first chance. By then, Rossi had thoroughly reshuffled his team—Péter Szappanos had come on in goal, for example—and Nego Loic shot over from close range from his position as center forward.
The pattern of play did not change in the second half, with the Hungarians confidently protecting their narrow lead and creating several good scoring opportunities, but they repeatedly failed to finish. The hosts stepped up their game in the final minutes, with Szappanos making a save in the 81st minute and then brilliantly blocking a close-range shot from the home team’s goalkeeper after a corner in the 93rd minute, securing the victory.
Featured image: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt