Fiola: We know the Switzerland match will be tough

Attila Fiola was part of Hungary's most recent Euro squad three years ago, even scoring a memorable goal against France, while Márton Dárdai is only at the start of his international career and, having only made three appearances for Hungary, is preparing for his first major international tournament.

"Switzerland are a compact team whose players pay at highest level, the majority of them in the German Bundesliga", Fiola said of Saturday's opponents. "Seven years ago, we faced them in a World Cup qualifying group without much success, losing both matches, but since then, much has changed for both national squads."

"We've analysed them in detail and are counting on a tough match on Saturday, but we're primarily focusing on ourselves. Our current national squad is very strong as a team and I think our team unity and harmony was never better than it is now - this is perhaps our team's biggest strength. Naturally, there are individuals now too, but in the meantime the team has become more characterised by a knowledge of how to contest matches than it had been before," explained Fiola, who also went into some detail of how his own preparations for the tournament have turned out.

"At the start of May, I had the seventh operation of my football career and the fourth in the last year. I've been through a difficult period, but I'm a kid with plenty of heart, which is how I could be here at this Euro. My time out injured means I don't have the necessary match fitness at international level, but I'm trying to compensate this with extra work," the Fehérvár FC defender admitted. 

At the other end of the spectrum, young Márton Dárdai only made his debut for Hungary this year and is preparing for his first European Championship with Marco Rossi's squad. The 22 year-old defender told the waiting press that Hungary's head coach had visited him several months ago, at which point they'd talked in depth about the national team, so since then, there'd been no doubt in his mind that he wanted to strengthen the Hungarian squad with his presence.

"It's been in my head for years that at some point I'd have to decide which nation to commit to at adult level," Dárdai said. "After the conversation with Marco Rossi, it was clear that I wanted to continue (my international career) in Hungary colours and I feel I made a really good decision. Right now, I feel in really good condition; I sat out two days after the Republic of Ireland match due to muscle fatigue, but since then I've not experienced any discomfort and I await this European Championship in excellent health. The atmosphere in the training camp has been very good and I don't feel anyone is particularly nervous. The circumstances here are good and and everything is in place for an ideal level of preparation".

The afternoon training session on Thursday was a tactical one and saw everyone in the squad participate apart from Callum Styles, Loic Nego and Botond Balogh, all three of whom completed individual training work.

With the Euro drawing near now, Hungary's planned programme has changed slightly. Marco Rossi will hold training on the Weiler training pitch in the morning before the squad eats lunch and embarks on their journey to Köln (Cologne). On arrival, Rossi will hold his official pre-match press conference at the venue of Saturday afternoon's match.