Csányi: National team to be playing in a wonderful venue by autumn

The anniversary of Ferenc Puskás’ birthday – Hungary’s greatest ever player having been born on 1st April some 92 years ago – provided the ideal excuse for the assembled members of the press to take a peek at how construction work at the soon-to-be-finished stadium is coming along, Government commissioner for the stadium construction Balázs Fürjes saying that construction is on schedule and on budget, and that 15,000 workers – from engineers to contractors – will have worked on the new arena by the time it will be completed.

The 67,000-capacity new arena will be one of the most modern multi-functional stadiums in Europe and won’t just provide a worthy home for the Hungarian national team, but will also be the perfect venue for concerts and conferences. Balázs Fürjes added that the new Puskás Aréna pays homage to the former Népstadion – which was renamed the Puskás Stadion in 2002 – because much of the material left over from the demolition of the old venue has been reused and the Olympic tower building has been retained. In addition, the unmistakable tribune pylons, complete with their former motifs, have also been reincorporated into the new design.

Hungarian Football Federation President Sándor Csányi emphasised in his speech that he was delighted that there are by now no signs of the early difficulties and delays, and that the stadium construction is on schedule to be completed in time to open its gates in November. Ideally, the new arena will open with a national team match, but for this to happen the stadium will need to be completed ten days ahead of the current November 25 deadline, given that November 15 is the last FIFA international calendar date in the year. Should this not be realised, the stadum will most likely be opened with a derby double-header, evoking the glory days of the previous venue on the site, the Népstadion.

“This stadium is the pinnacle of the infrastructural development being carried out, and if the national team performs in the future as well as it did in the recent Euro Qualifier against Croatia it will deserve to play its matches in such a wonderful venue. I can imagine how much joy it would bring supporters if the Hungarian national team would take to the field in this stadium at Euro 2020, and I’m also hoping that Marco Rossi’s team succeeds in qualifying for the finals next year. I would like it if within a few years a European final would also be held in the new arena, and it is high time that we get the nod to host a men’s Champions League final here,” said Csányi.

Talking about results at youth level, Csányi went on to say that the Federation has successfully completed a period of infrastructural development and of popularising the sport, but that there is still a shortfall when it comes to the development of the 6-14 age group. Much must still be done to reduce this gap, and in order that the football academies begin their further development of young talent from a better base level. Csányi added that in the interest of further improvement, he would like to activate recent former players with recent international experience in taking a leading, hands-on role in the development of domestic football.

Hungary national team assistant coach Zoltán Gera – who is also the Budapest Ambassador for Euro 2020 – as well as current national team players Roland Varga and Attila Fiola also spoke at the event. Gera talked of being sorry he couldn’t play in the new Puskás Aréna, having hung up his boots last year, but also that he is greatly looking forward to seeing the national team playing there in front of a raucous 67,000 crowd, and that he and his coaching colleagues in the national team set-up are working hard to ensure that Hungary may be able to do so at next summer’s European Championship. The new Puskás Aréna will play host to three group-stage matches as well as one last-sixteen fixture in the largest European Championship finals to date.

Mayor of Budapest István Tarlós began his speech by talking of his experiences at the old Népstadion, which played host to so many memorable sports events over the years, before adding that the new arena is also wonderful from an engineering perspective. Following the press conference, journalists were given the opportunity of a tour of the arena.