János Rábl: Italian sojourn comes to an end

Rábl previously played for MVFC Berettyójfalu for nine years, winning both the Hungarian futsal league championship and national cup in their colours before the chance came last autumn to test himself in Italy, home to one of Europe's strongest leagues. He joined Lynx Latina, where he was a key players until the start of March when the advent of the pandemic halted the domestic futsal season. According to news sources, the league championship season will not continue and it is far from certain that Rábl's club will be able to survive the economic strife that has engulfed it and many other sporting organisations.

Rábl, meanwhile, returned home before a travel shutdown was imposed in Italy and will now train alone as he prepares for an uncertain future.

"I enjoyed myself in Italy, the club leadership was always straight with me and everyone was friendly and helpful. My time abroad was a great experience even though there were material issues at the club before the advent of this virus. I was lucky to be able to find a flight route home before the lockdown. Now I'm really missing football as I entered voluntary quarantine on my return home, which was very difficult, and haven't played a match for more than six weeks, but the most important is that we overcome the pandemic as soon as possible".

Rábl's former Hungarian club, current title-holders MVFC Berettyóújfalu, lead the domestic standings this season too but lost the Hungarian Futsal Cup final to Haladás, the team most likely to be the biggest obstacle to the retention of their title.

"I've many nice memories of my time in Berettyóújfalu and of course I've kept an eye on their results and I hope they retain their title. The league has become a high-quality one in recent years - many clubs have strengthened by signing foreigners so that shows how much the sport here has developed".