Hat-trick for football at Sportsperson of the Year Gala

Budapest's stunning Opera House again hosted the M4 Sport - Sportsman of the Year Gala, the annual award ceremony of Hungarian sport now in in its 66th year. Once again, the winners of each category were decided based on votes from domestic sports journalists, and this time, the men's national football team, which remained undefeated in 2023 and is now preparing for the European Championship in 2024, featured prominently, proving victorious in three categories.

Sports coach of the year went to Marco Rossi, the award being presented to the Hungarian national team head coach by his Italian compatriot Fabio Cannavaro, former winner of the prestigious Ballon d'Or.

"I didn't prepare for the fact that I would receive this award", Rossi told the packed auditorium and the many television viewers watching live, "because the coaches who were nominated alongside me are fantastic, for example, the men's water polo national team head coach Zsolt Varga. I'm a huge fan of Hungarian water polo and I'm sure it will achieve great success in the future and continue to produce great world class players in the future", emphasised Rossi, who also stated his team is counting on the support of their fans this coming year too.

The team of the year accolade went to Rossi's team, having qualified for the European Championship as winners of its qualifying group. Squad members led by team captain Dominik Szoboszlai received the award from two-time Olympic water polo champion Rajmund Fodor.

Szoboszlai gave the closing speech of the ceremony and stated he hopes the year 2024 will be even more exciting than last year. However, Szoboszlai bade farewell to the audience only temporarily, because he was almost immediately called back on stage to be proclaimed Sportsman of the Year for 2023, the Liverpool FC midfielder receiving his trophy from his predecessor as captain of Hungary, Ádám Szalai.

"For me, 2023 was memorable for numerous reasons." Szoboszlai explained. "In the summer, I won the German Cup with RB Leipzig for the second time, then was transferred to Liverpool FC before reaching the highlight of the year, the qualification journey to Euro 2024 with Hungary. I'd like to say thank you to my team members and coaches and to congratulate from the bottom of my heart the other two candidates for this prize and all the other award winners".