Marco Rossi: There is no easy opponent

As well as the winner of the Nations League play-off tie between Portugal or Denmark, European Qualifying Group F will pit Hungary against Republic of Ireland and Armenia during 2025 as Europe's national teams strive to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. 

"I counted on us getting an extremely strong team from the first pot of seeds, which may well turn out to be Portugal. We know them and are aware of their strength, so while we won't be the favourites to win, we'll try to do our best," Rossi explained. "As for the others, we've recently experienced the difficulties of playing against Republic of Ireland. We're talking about a physically tough team, but as we also know, it's not easy against anyone away from home, even if the Irish and Armenian national teams may not quite represent the same level as that of the very top nations. Every match will be in the balance - f course it's important that we're ahead in the world rankings, but we have to produce our best possible performance in order to prove it on the pitch and overcome these opponents."

Of the two possible opponents from the first pot of seeds, Rossi has already managed Hungary in a match against Portugal, a 3-0 loss in the group stage of the European Championship in the Puskás Arena in 2021.

"The Portuguese national team has changed a lot since our last match against each other. Several players have been replaced, but we're still talking about a top team with excellent footballers in every position. In addition, they have Cristiano Ronaldo who is very difficult to stop and is effective not only in Saudi Arabia, but also against the biggest nations for his national team," Rossi continued, after which he answered the question of which of these two possible opponents he'd choose as an opponent in terms of playing style. "We're talking about two teams with different styles. The Danes play classic Scandinavian football; they're physically strong, well organised and also tactically and technically well prepared. They have several excellent players, but I think Portugal are stronger. Therefore, if I had to choose, I would choose Denmark, because Portugal is an even better team than them. Of course, this doesn't mean we'd have an easy time against Denmark, but knowing their style, we'd have more of a chance against them. However, Portugal's loss against Georgia meant we were eliminated at this year's European Championship, so if we'd get them, I'd be happy that we'll have the opportunity to gain a measure of revenge."