Hungary Men's Under-17s suffer Euro penalty heartbreak

Having successfully manoeuvred their way through a tricky-looking group stage, Hungary faced Spain at the UCD Bowl in Dublin for a place in the semi-finals, and with it, qualification for the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil later this year.

As expected, head coach Sándor Preisinger made wholesale changes to the second-string XI that took to the field against Russia in the final group-stage match, only Milán Horváth, Márk Kosznovszky, Gergő Ominger and András Németh retaining their places.

Spain came out of the traps strongly, Germán Valera rattling the crossbar in the eighth minute and then Gábor Buna heading the rebound from Yéremi Pino off the line for a corner. There was little Hungary could do in the 11th minute though as Valencia attacker Jordi Escobar turned his marker and found the bottom-right corner of the net from the corner of the six-yard box. Escobar almost had Spain two up in the 20th minute, firing just wide after being sent clear by Pino when it seemed easier to score. Hungary avoided further mishap in the first half though, Spain continuing to be the more dangerous side even if Hungary had plenty of possession.

Hungary equalised five minutes into the second half, Patrik Posztobányi driving at the Spain defence before playing in Gergő Ominger, who stepped inside Beñat Turrientes before firing a curling shot low into the right-corner from just outside the box. Spain upped the pace of the game following Hungary’s goal, both Ominger and Posztobányi picking up yellow cards as Preisinger’s side were forced on the defensive again. Pino came close to restoring Spain’s lead in the 73rd minute following a clever dummy from Escobar, but his shot was well-saved by Krisztián Hegyi, and the West Ham United goalkeeper was also called into action late on as Spain searched in vain for a late winner.

1-1 at full-time, the match went to penalties, György Komáromi, Sámuel Major, Ominger and Posztobányi all scoring with their kicks and Valera, Robert Navarro, Arian Gómez and Alex Rico Pico doing likewise for Spain. András Németh struck Hungary’s fifth penalty but keeper Ivan Martínez saved, leaving Pablo Moreno to keep his cool to fire Spain into a semi-final date with the Netherlands on Thursday.

Hungary now face Belgium – whom they faced in the elite round in Telki earlier this spring – on Thursday in a play-off to decide who qualifies – along with the four semi-finalists – for the 2019 Under-17 World Cup in Brazil later this year.

Hungary 1-1 Spain (HT: 0-1), Spain win 5-4 on penalties

Goalscorers: HUN: Gergő Ominger (50’); SPA: Jordi Escobar (11’)

Hungary: Krisztián Hegyi – Gábor Buna, Milán Horváth, Botond Balogh, Dávid László – Gergő Ominger, Mihály Kata, Patrik Posztobányi, Márk Kosznovszky (György Komáromi, 66’) – András Németh, Ákos Zuigeber (Sámuel Major, 65’)