Hungary celebrate women’s game with victory over Cyprus

There are currently 12,153 registered women’s footballers in Hungary, and they were all celebrated along with former women’s national team players in Telki on Sunday. The tradition – now in its fifth year – of celebrating women’s football, gave the opportunity for under-14s to play in front of the public, as part of the joint Hungarian Football Federation and UEFA talent programme. The aim of the programme is for young talent to realised and for all teenage girl footballers to have the opportunity of playing at the highest level. Under the programme, Hungary is split into four regional areas, with a minimum of two B licence of above coaches training the girls in each one.

Alongside the Under-14 programme the Bozsik Programme is also providing a boost in player numbers. A record 30,000 girls played the game in 2018/19, 869 of which are at Under-14 level, 964 at Under-13 level, and 742 at Under-12.

The regional Under-14 tournament held at the Telki training centre provided much excitement. Central Hungary made it to the final on penalties following a 0-0 draw against Eastern Hungary, whilst North-West Hungary defeated Southern Hungary 7-1. The third-place play-off saw Eastern Hungary beat the South-East 1-0, and then in the final, Central Hungary were named champions following a 2-0 victory over the North West. Afterwards, there were presentations from regional coach Attila Berla and Coerver Hungary director József Szalma.

“I really liked the freedom with which the girls played. They displayed good teamwork and were tactically aware. I’d like to congratulate all the girls and their coaches; we saw a high level of football. I’d also like to thank everyone involved in the programme, parents included, who do all they can to help their girls make it to training, which often involves long journeys” said Hungary national team head coach Edina Márkó.

The high point of the day saw the Hungarian women’s national team take on Cyprus as part of their preparations for the European Championship qualifiers at the end of August. Before the match, Hungarian Federation Women’s Committee member Diána Déri congratulated Zsófia Rácz on her 100th appearance for the national side, as well as Evelin Mosdóczi and Evelin Fenyvesi on their 50th.

Hungary had already been dominant, coming close through Dóra Zeller and Fanni Vágó early on, by the time they eventually took the lead in the 36th minute, Zsófia Rácz sending a free kick into the box and Bernadett Zágor supplying the finish.

Hungarian Young Player of the Year Sára Pusztai took the place of Zágor for the second half, the 18-year-old making her national-team debut having been a mainstay of the Under-19s. Joining her for the second forty-five was Player of the Year Evelin Fenyvesi and it didn’t take long for the rejigged Hungary to begin knocking in the goals.

Zeller got the second goal after 50 minutes, converting a cross from Anna Csiki, and Hungary were three ahead just before the hour-mark as Evelin Mosdóczi finished off a wonderfully-crafted attack. Cyprus did get a goal back in 68 minutes through Korina Paola Amadou but any hopes they had of a comeback were soon dashed as Fanni Vágó restored Hungary’s three-goal lead in the 73rd. A free kick from Csiki was deflected into her own net by Panayiotou in the 77th, and then Vágó grabbed her second of the game with six minutes remaining to set the final score at 6-1 to the hosts.

“The players who joined the squad did so in varying degrees of fitness and this showed in the first half as we struggled to get going and break down our opponents’ defence. One positive to take was our set-piece play and another, that we attacked well in the second half. We’re continually bringing young players into the team and Sára Pusztai fitted in well today; we’ve high hopes that she can bring a lot to the team”, Markó said after the match.

Hungary 6-1 Cyprus (HT: 1-0)

Goalscorers: HUN Zágor (36’), Zeller (50’), Mosdóczi (59’), Vágó Fanni (73’, 84’), Panayiotou (own goal, 77’); CYP: Amadou (68’)

Hungary: Anna Samu – Evelin Mosdóczi (Barbara Tóth, 76’), Lilla Turányi, Viktória Szabó, Anna Csiki – Henrietta Csiszár (Anita Pinczi, 62’), Zsófia Rácz (Alexandra Tóth, 76’), Dóra Zeller (Diána Csányi, 80’) – Petra Kocsán (Evelin Fenyvesi, 45’), Bernadett Zágor (Sára Pusztai, 45’), Fanni Vágó