Women's national team travels to Turkey with new names and absences

Head coach Edina Markó's team is preparing for their spring European Championship qualifiers at an international tournament in Turkey next month. Following the tournament's conclusion, Hungary Women will take on their two toughest group opponents, firstly at home against Iceland at the Illlovszky Rudolf Stadium and then away against Sweden.

The squad's most important aim during this preparation period is for the team to finish it in the best possible condition ahead of April's European Championship qualifiers, so Zsanett Jakabfi and Dóra Zeller, both of whom have minor injuries, will continue their preparation work at their clubs. Ferencváros goalkeeper Samu Anna suffered knee-ligament damage at her club's recent training camp, so she won't travel to Turkey in early March.

"These warm-up tournaments also give us the opportunity to see every player who is in consideration. The stakes here are not as high as in the qualifiers and we can also try out those members of the squad who, so far, have been given fewer chances or have not made there full international debuts yet", Markó commented to MLSZ.hu.

Featuring in this squad are Boglárka Horti, Hanna Németh, Edina Fáradi-Szabó, Zoé Magyarics and Ágnes Nagy, none of whom have yet played for Hungary, and Sara Pusztai, team captain of Hungary's women's U19 squad.

"It helps a lot that the women's U19 squad's training camp will be in Turkey at the same time, so we agreed with Sándor Turtóczki, their coach, that Sari can join them for their last match so that both teams can prepare (with her in mind). We consider it important, as in the recent case of Anna Csiki, that certain girls should be leaders in their own age group but can also be integrate into the adult squad, and now I am very much counting on Sari in this latter group too", Markó continued.

Venezuela, Hong Kong and Romania will be our opponents in the tournament in Turkey.

"We chose this tournament because, amongst other things, we can play against teams of great strength which we rarely meet. As the championship is still on its winter break, none of the girls will be on top form and there will be only one Hungarian Cup round before the competition in Turkey. Now I want to see who is in what ind of condition because in April, it would already be too late to change the situation", Hungary's head coach added.

Markó's Hungarian team will host Iceland on April 10th before travelling to Sweden. Their remaining European Championship qualifiers include an away fixture in Latvia and a home contest against Slovakia.

"Every match has presented difficulty. We started the campaign against Iceland and although we were in contention for most of the match, we ultimately suffered defeat. That is why it's important to bounce back at home, because we'd like to achieve parity with this very tough Icelandic squad", Edina Markó concluded.

Hungarian Women's squad to travel to Turkey:

Goalkeepers:

Réka Szőcs (MTK Hungária FC)
Barbara Bíró (Haladás-Victoria FC)

Defenders:

Laura Kovács (ETO FC Győr)
Viktória Szabó (Ferencvárosi TC)
Lilla Turányi (MTK Hungária FC)
Evelin Mosdóczi (Ferencvárosi TC)
Dóra Papp (MTK Hungária FC)
Anita Pinczi (MTK Hungária FC)
Anna Csiki (Ferencvárosi TC)
Boglárka Horti (Haladás-Victoria FC)
Hanna Németh (Indiana University Athletics)

Midfielders:

Diána Csányi (MTK Hungária FC)
Evelin Fenyvesi (Ferencvárosi TC)
Henrietta Csiszár (FC Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Petra Kocsán (Ferencvárosi TC)
Zsófia Rácz (Haladás-Viktória FC)
Edina Farádi-Szabó (MTK Hungária FC)
Sára Pusztai (Ferencvárosi TC)
Zoé Magyarics (MTK Hungária FC)

Forwards:

Bernadett Zágor (SKN St. Pölten)
Fanni Vágó (Ferencvárosi TC)
Loretta Németh (MTK Hungária FC)
Dóra Süle (ETO FC Győr)
Ágnes Nagy (MTK Hungária FC)