De Wilde joins Leekens' coaching staff

Hungary national team head coach Georges Leekens has added a Belgian to his otherwise almost all-Hungarian coaching staff. Patrick De Wilde will be sharing the assistant coaching duties with Zoltán Szélesi.

“As I have already mentioned, the Hungarian Football Federation has already been devoted to employing highly qualified professionals in all disciplines surrounding the national team. As a result, the only extra person I am adding to the coaching staff is Patrick De Wilde, whose professional experience and attitude fits the bill perfectly and will absolutely fit in with the others. There is no especial hierarchy within the staff; everyone is working to prepare the team as best we can”, Leekens said to mlsz.hu.

54 year-old De Wilde is well known to Leekens, having worked with him for the Algeria national team at the 2017 African Cup of Nations. The Pro Licence coach has worked at numerous Belgian clubs as a technical director and head coach, but was also assistant coach at Metalist Donetsk in the Ukraine. A qualified physical education instructor, De Wilde also possesses a wealth of coaching experience at youth level, having led the Red Bull Salzburg U-18 team as well as being involved with the Algerian Olympic team last year. In addition, he has also acquired extensive scouting experience during the course of his career, which he is bound to share with his new Hungarian colleagues in the near future.

Leekens was appointed national team head coach by the Hungarian Football Federation in October 2017. As a player he was a defender for Club Brugge, winning five Belgian championships and reaching the 1978 European Cup final during nine years with the club, as well as being capped three times for the national team. As head coach of Belgium he successfully qualified for the 1998 World Cup finals, before working has head coach of Tunisia and then Algeria in the African Cup of Nations. Players who have worked under him include Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez.

Sharing the assistant coaching duties with De Wilde will be Zoltán Szélesi, who has been on the national team coaching staff since 2015. The 28-times capped defender and defensive midfielder was part of the coaching setup at Euro 2016, and was appointed interim head coach for two matches at the tail end of 2017 after Bernd Storck had left the role. 37 year-old Szélesi also coaches the Hungary Under-17 team, last year reaching the European Championship quarter-finals with his side, with which he is currently preparing for the elite qualification round for this year’s tournament.

Further members of Leekens’ coaching staff are as follows:

Goalkeeping coach Holger Gehrke

Physical trainers: Zoltán Holanek and Gábor Schuth

Video Analyst: Andreas Patz

Physiotherapists: Tamás Halmai, József Fehér, Barnabás Végh, Reinhard Mörz

Team Doctor: Ádám Szilas

Masseurs: László Hegyesi, László Szabó

Team Manager: Attila Tömő

Press Officer: Gergő Szabó