Marco Rossi: We must play bravely and without fear

Hungary Men start their 2024/25 Nations League campaign with an away fixture against Germany in Düsseldorf's Esprit Arena.

Friday morning saw Rossi's squad train in Telki before departing for Germany after lunch, the delegation arriving by plane and travelling from the airport directly to the stadium by coach. There, Dominik Szoboszlai and his teammates walked around inside the stadium but avoided the pitch, its slightly sub-optimal condition meaning that even the referees' training session took place elsewhere. Thereafter, Rossi and midfielder András Schäfer faced the media at the official pre-match press conference. 

"With the European Championship now in the past, every Hungary player would really like to prove themselves, because two and a half months ago, we didn't reach the levels of performance we wanted to against Germany and Switzerland", Rossi told the press conference. "We'd like to attack more and play a completely different type of match against Germany than in the Euro. We must play bravely and without fear."

"We're going to attack as much as the opponent allows, so this doesn't just depend on our own team, but also the opponent. In these kinds of matches, it's generally the stronger team's style of play which is imposed on the game, not really the other team's. I'm happy that numerous of our key players are in better shape now than before the Euro, so from this perspective, we'll meet Germany at a better time than was previously the case."

On the subject of his team's chances in the group, Rossi explained that on paper, Germany and the Netherlands are stronger than we are and that our level is more similar to Bosnia's. Often though, form on paper and the result achieved on the pitch are totally different, so the team's aim is to match the good performances we saw in the most recent edition of the Nations League.

Schäfer added that playing against Germany is a huge motivation for not just him, but all his teammates too:

"It's a big motivation to step onto the pitch against Germany, not only because I play in the Bundesliga, but because Germany has a leading position in world football and everyone really wants to prove themselves against them," the Union Berlin midfielder admitted.