Hungary Under-21s deservedly beaten by Norway

Head coach Zoltán Gera made five changes to the side which drew 0-0 in Aalborg against Denmark, Ádám Varga starting in goal, Krisztián Kovács at right back, Kristóf Hinora in defensive midfield, and Tamás Kiss and Regő Szánthó on the flanks. Norway came into the game on the back of a 2-1 victory over Cyprus in the European Under-21 qualification Group 7.

Hungary placed the emphasis primarily on a solid defence, just as they had in Aalborg, and gave a disciplined display in the first half. Norway were initially the more active in attack, Hungary only beginning to threaten as the half wore on. It was Norway who broke the deadlock though, Leo Skiri Østigård rising above Attila Szalai to plant a firm header past the outstretched Ádám Varga from twelve yards. Norway continued to hold the upper hand until just before the break when a cross from Bence Bíró was flicked by Regő Szánthó into the path of Krisztián Kovács, but he was unable to direct his shot on target from four yards out.

Gera made three half-time substitutions, Bence Szabó, András Csonka and László Deutsch coming on. Bíró tried his luck with a long-range effort but by the 54th minute Norway were two goals to the good. With the Hungarian defence failing to clear their lines following a corner on the left by Hugo Vetlesen, the ball came back to the Norwegian captain, his low shot parried by Varga right in front of Ola Brynhildsen who made no mistake from three yards out. Come the 57th minute, it was three, Tobias Christensen playing a clever one-two with Aron Dønnum inside the box before slotting past Varga and into the corner of the net. Norway continued to press, and Varga was twice called into action to deny them any more goals. At the other end, Hungary struggled to break down a solid Norwegian defence, the match finishing 3-0 to the visitors.

“This match showed that we still some way to go if we’re to catch up with the top-level nations. The Norwegians were foremostly ahead of us in terms of speed”, said Zoltán Gera after the match. “In the first half I received what I asked for from my players defensively, but after the break we lost our organisation. After the match I said in the dressing room that I can’t accept it from footballers if the game plan falls to pieces when we’re behind; we need to be compact in all situations. We became more open and one of the lessons from the match is that perhaps we wanted to take too big a stride forward and that for the time being we need to stick to the basics; to build from the back”, he added.

Hungary 0-3 Norway
Goalscorers: Østigård (31’), Brynhildsen (54’), Christensen (57’)

Hungary: Ádám Varga - Krisztián Kovács, Zsombor Nagy, Attila Szalai, Bence Tóth (László Deutsch, 46’) - Kristóf Hinora (Bence Banó-Szabó, 71.), Bence Kiss (András Csonka, 46’) - Tamás Kiss (Szabolcs Schön, 64’), András Schäfer (Szabó Bence, 46’), Regő Szánthó (Márk Kovácsréti, 74’) - Bence Bíró