Croatia U21s win by three goals too

The first of our preparation matches for the 2021 UEFA Under-21 European Championship, which we will jointly host with Slovenia, resulted in a 0-0 draw against the Danes before Gera's team fell 3-0 to Norway at Felcsút last month. Numerous new players including Zoltán Varju and Martin Majnovics were called up for this latest against Croatia and both of those made it into the starting line-up for the clash in Zalaegerszeg.

The first opportunities were created by the visitors, two headers missing the target in the first five minutes. They made no mistake in the ninth minute though, Hungary proving ponderous in possession and Croatia quick to lead a counter-attack down their right side before a precise cross was stabbed home from seven metres by the arriving Sandro Kulanic. Croatia dominated thereafter, especially in midfield, to the extent that Hungary could only pose a threat via one or two free-kicks.

The ball spent most of its time in the Hungarian half of the pitch but the defence held firm and Croatia were limited to shots from distance in their search for a second goal. Moreover, Hungary managed to restore parity in the 40th minute, Attila Szalai seizing possession in his own half, running out to the left wing, exchanging passes with Regő Szánthó and crossing from near the byline for Bíró to slam the ball off the near post and into the net.

Zoltán Gera made one change during the break, András Schäfer replacing Kristóf Korbély from Diósgyőr, while Croatia freshened themselves up with four substitutes. The first ten minutes of the half were even but the away team regained the lead in the 57th minute when Neven Durasek prodded a rebound into the centre of Hungary's goal after Bruno Bogojevic's shot from the right had thudded against Patrik Demjén's right post. Croatia then increased their lead after 71 minutes, Ivan Posavec's thunderous header from an excellent cross making it 3-1. Hungary were forced to defend for the next few minutes as Croatia constantly pressed Gera's team back into their own half.

As the final whistle approached, the hosts did step out and create a couple of big chances but Croatia's goalkeeper pulled of one or two impressive saves. Lady Luck also shone on the away team, as an 81st-minute free kick from the right deflected off Attila Szalai and past Demjén for Croatia's fourth goal. Ultimately, Hungary's neighbours were the more organised outfit and capitalised on their sights of goal to win the match in confident fashion.

"We are still a long way from producing the performance I want to see from the team and we are still looking for the ideal lineup, while trying to find the right players for each position. Nevertheless, we shouldn't have conceded such goals. We gave too much space to the opponent and failed to accomplish what I'd expected from the team defensively. Conceding four goals is a lot, especially at home, and we haven't really progressed much compared with our previous match. We need to analyse our mistakes and continue with the construction we have already begun, and then I trust that we will be able to show an improvement in performance in our next match against Slovenia”, Gera commented after the match.

Hungary 1-4 Croatia (HT: 1-1)
Hungary: Patrik Demjén; Bendegúz Bolla, Zoltán Varjas, Attila Szalai, Martin Majnovics; Bence Kiss, Bence Szabó (Mátyás Tajti, 70); Regő Szánthó (Máté Szabó, 65), András Schäfer (Kristóf Korbély, 46), Bence Banó-Szabó (Kristóf Hinora, 80); Bence Bíró (Milán Májer, 70).