Marco Rossi: We're prepared for anything against Poland

Marco Rossi held his last press conference before the World Cup qualifier against Poland earlier on Wednesday and according to the Italian, the players have to give the maximum on the pitch in all respects and be lucky too in order to achieve a good result against a nation who are ranked higher than Hungary and can count on world stars to boost their lineup.

Rossi also stated he was confident his good run against Poland head coach Paulo Sousa could continue, having previously twice achieved positive results when facing the Portuguese as head coach of Honvéd.

"I hope the third match against Paulo Sousa will spring a surprise and my team will keep my unbeaten record against him", Rossi said. "In previous matches against each other, my team was, on paper, facing a stronger opponent, so I trust I can continue this run. Paulo has his own style, we are aware of that, but it's not possible to guess in advance exactly what tasks and composition he will send his team onto the pitch with, so we have tried to prepare for any eventuality, including the four-men and three-men defensive formations.

In addition, of course, we've tried to prepare for their best players, but it's another question whether we'll succeed in realising our plan on the pitch. Lewandowski is one of the best players in the world and Zilinski is also a real class player, but there are lots of great players in the Poland squad who play in top teams from week to week. It’s no coincidence that while we’re in 40th place in the world rankings, our opponent is in 19th place.

The key to a successful performance is the right team style of play and we also need to give our maximum as individuals, but we'll also need luck, because the latter component also contributes greatly to the outcome of matches. Luck is essential in key moments and without it, it is difficult to produce results".

When asked by a journalist, Marco Rossi revealed that only Ákos Kecskés is not in perfect condition and that all the others are ready for Thursday's meeting in every respect.

Also at the press conference, Nemanja Nikolic, a former goal scorer in the Polish league, also took questions from attending journalists. The MOL Fehérvár striker is optimistic about the match after recent positive results:

"Everyone is full of confidence; we're in a great mood and looking forward to the matches," Nikolic said. "The previous half-year gives reason to be hopeful, having achieved very good results. We've achieved all our goals, and we can also build on the way we've played. Of course, we still have to develop both individually and as a team. We respect Poland, but we're confident in our own abilities and also in the fact that we can fight for even bigger prizes in the future. Playing for Poland is one of the best players in the world, Robert Lewandowski, who produces goals at a fantastic rate. It’s important to get him out of the game, but that hasn’t even been possible in the past for teams stronger than us. Small margins could decide this; set-pieces will be important and we need to avoid making mistakes. I'm looking forward to a battle with tough challenges and lots of running, but our goal at home is to win".

The match referee will be Felix Brych of Germany, who previously refereed the 2017 Champions League final. His assistants will be compatriots Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp, while the fourth referee will be Marco Fritz.