Hungary has made great strides in this European Championship

The Hungary team performed superbly at the European Championship, drawing against reigning world champions France at home and away against Germany. In the three group matches, they were behind for a total of six minutes against three of the best national teams in the world, even taking the lead against both France and Germany.

The day after the group match in Munich, Marco Rossi was already answering questions from journalists in Telki, Hungary team's national media centre.

"We have progressed on several levels during the European Championships; we are now playing without fear against higher-ranked opponents, we can fight them on a physical level in terms of endurance, running power and tactically too. At a technical level, there is still a gap between us and the top teams, but I hope to be able to
invite players into the sq soon who can help reduce this deficit", the head coach said in regard to what he'd learnt during the tournament.

"In the last thirty-five days, it's not only the squad which has developed but my backroom staff and I too. This has been achieved primarily in small details, but most importantly, we have a real team. The boys are motivated, fit for the task and the results achieved do not fully reflect the qualitative progress we have made in the last good month. I myself want to play a more attacking, more proactive game, which we have already given a taste of in recent Nations League campaigns, but Portugal, Germany and France are not opponents against whom there is much opportunity to play that way".

"I close every moment of this European Championship inside my heart," Rossi continued. "Unfortunately it only lasted a short time as we played all three matches in just over a week, but I enriched myself with great experiences. The most moving moments are connected with our fans as they cheered us on in the matches. It is often said that football is just a game, but it is actually much more than that, as it can evoke such deep emotions. The footballers were the main players in this European Championship; they deserve recognition. I am grateful to them and the whole country is rightly proud of them".

According to Rossi, every player at the European Championship made a good impression on the tournament, so more can expect to be the subject of interest from clubs in the most prestigious leagues. The Italian believes that while it is more challenging for everyone in the best competitions, if they play there, they will be able to perform much better at national-team level too.

Answering a question from a journalist, Marco Rossi revealed that he doesn't expect any kind of regression after the European Championship and is confident that the team will continue on the path it has taken so far.

“I don’t expect a setback because I’m only going to invite players to the national team who I see running and fighting on the pitch. If someone is technically good but doesn’t run, or there’s no fighting spirit in them, then that's no good for international football. Not everyone needs to be at the technical level of Dominik Szoboszlai; there are other aspects to football. If someone is technically outstanding but just walks around on the pitch, I will never call them up to the national team.

I brought in this principle in November 2019, after the match against Wales in Cardiff. Then, I told myself that I would either resign or completely change the selection criteria. I chose the latter and the results have changed since then too. I'm responsible to the Hungarian people for the results of the national team, so if I see someone who is battling and fighting, you can count on me selecting you, but I only invite those who really deserve it", Rossi concluded".