Ádám Nagy: We've prepared really well

It's almost time for Hungary's European Championship debut in the 2021 tournament, when on Tuesday night Marco Rossi's charges will play against Portugal. On Sunday afternoon, the players finetuned the planned tactical elements in another training session, but before that, two players, Ádám Nagy and Kevin Varga, answered questions from journalists at the national media center in Telki.

At the start of the press conference, Nagy covered yesterday’s dramatic events and, on behalf of the team, sent Christian Eriksen, the Denmark star who had to have his heart restarted at the end of the first half of the match against Finland, his best wishes.

“At the end of Saturday’s training, the first news came of the drama surrounding Christian Eriksen, with everyone was shocked by what happened in Copenhagen. I'm confident that Christian will return home as soon as possible and continue his recovery with his family in a loving environment. We talked a lot after the incident about how this could be prevented from happening on the football pitch, but unfortunately it has to be said that such a horrific incident could happen to anyone", Nagy admitted.

The Hungary midfielder also revealed that as the first match approaches, there is growing excitement within the camp: "We feel the pressure is increasing and the first match is already within reach. It's a sweet burden for the team, as we can represent our country, in addition, in Budapest, in front of our own crowd. It could easily be a unique opportunity for any squad member. We'll do our best to get the European Championship off to a good start for ourselves, much like the 2016 tournament.

It was a good match with Portugal five years ago, but since then there have been changes for both teams. We have undergone a generational change, so there are very few in our squad who were there in France. We've had a very good preparation period now though and have practised the planned tactical elements of our play, so we're looking forward to the first match", said Nagy, who then added in reply to a journalist's question that Zsolt Kalmár and Dominik Szoboszlai's creativity will be missed and will need to be replaced by the team.

"Five years ago, the game against Portugal was one of the most enjoyable matches of the whole European Championship. Now I’m waiting for a different kind of match with fewer goals and more stable defences. One or two goals can decide the fate of the three points. It will be an incredible experience to play in front of our fans and the European Championship may help society to recover after a difficult period due to the coronavirus", Nagy stated.

Meanwhile, Kevin Varga revealed that in addition to Marco Rossi, captain Ádám Szalai also plays a key role in team plans, and that each member of the squad values their words a lot: "This is my first big tournament and you can't prepare for a European Championship based on what others are saying; you have to actually go through it. We can't imagine what it'll be like to run out on the pitch in the Puskás Arena, but everyone is prepared and aware of their tasks", said the wide player who plays his club football in Turkey.