István Pisont: Cup success feels different as a coach

"I'm very satisfied with what my players provided on the pitch today", Pisont told the post-match press conference. "They worked in a disciplined way and we only gave Mezőkövesd a few opportunities. Our opponent had one or two opportunities at the start of the match, but after that we were able to control the match, and they couldn't get a clear sight of our goal due to our defensive axis. Having said that, in the attack we were ineffective and in central positions we couldn't break down the opponent's defence either, so we only really created opportunities out wide. Ugrai and Lanzafame had two or three forays forward and we found parts of the Mezőkövesd defence we could attack. After our second goal, we played with redoubled vigour, we narrowed the space they could play in, withdrew into our own territory and didn't give the Mezőkövesd forwards the opportunity to play at a high tempo in our defensive half. Tactically, the team was good and I think we deserved the victory, I’m especially glad we managed to achieve all this in front of our great fans. Our central defensive trio worked really well so it was a good decision to start with three central defenders".

István Pisont is only the second person in the history of Honvéd to win the Hungarian Cup with the team as a player and coach, the first being Imre Komora. Thirty-one years have passed between Pisont's 1989 cup victory as a player and the current triumph as a coach.

"To experience such success It's a totally different responsibility on my shoulders to win as a coach than as a player, really without responsibility. It's a very intense period of work for me, this Wednesday-Saturday routine where each match is very important for different reasons. We have to prepare for the next league match tomorrow because we want to achieve a good result against Újpest too, but at the same time I can gain a lot of experience at this intense pace, which is very important for my own development. My experience now with this current cup triumph is quite different to the one in 1989, but of course I'm unspeakably happy and grateful to have been able to celebrate winning the Hungarian Cup with Honvéd for the second time in 31 years", Pisont added.

Meanwhile, Mezőkövesd head coach Attila Kuttor emphasised after the match that his players couldn't be criticised for their performance, but this time the team weren't able to put on an attacking display which could have led to a cup final victory:

"First of all, congratulations to Honvéd", Kuttor sportingly conceded. "As far as my team is concerned, although we lost, we played well and we tried to show the virtues that have characterised us so far (this season). More than that, we tried everything we could to win, but today it wasn't enough. Two set-pieces decided our fate, which of course doesn't take anything away from Honvéd's performance. We had our opportunities, but against such defensive protection it is difficult to create clear chances. We still created good openings but unfortunately this time we couldn’t convert them. There was a lack of sharpness in front of goal, so our well-oiled basic game wasn't enough to break down such an effective defence. Individual moments of magic were also needed but these weren't evident in such quantity and quality that a goal could be scored from them.

Right now, this defeat hurts a lot for everyone, but maybe in hindsight, we’ll see value in our cup final perforance. Finals are special matches where nothing matters but victory and today we failed. Regardless, I’m proud of my players because everyone tries to do their best, day in and day out, and losing a match doesn’t take anything away from the value of their efforts. I'm also proud of my staff and our fans, whom I would like to thank for accompanying us in such large numbers and encouraging the team throughout", Kuttor concluded.