Rossi: A tough challenge awaits us

Ferencváros defender Endre Botka explained at the national team's press conference on Wednesday that although there is nothing riding on Thursday's friendly against Serbia, the squad is taking the match as seriously as ever.

"We want to produce our best performance," Botka emphasised. "We just need to apply the final touches and polish a few small details before the match".

Botka emphasised that the team's most important aim is to maintain and improve what they have built in the recent period. "We are primarily preparing for the Nations League matches this summer, so these two preparation matches are important to us in this respect".

"The squad's newcomers have managed to integrate quickly, (partly due to) the Hungarian national team being a very good community," Botka added.

Head coach Marco Rossi, followed up on that by stating he is constantly monitoring their performances during training. The responsibilities of being in the starting team are always big though, so it is good there are already proven players in the squad.

"It is a difficult task for the two teams and national teams in general, as there is little time (to prepare), so I always ask for maximum attention from the players during training. I trust the attitude of the squad members, as always, but it is also necessary in order to produce a good performance".

Regarding Thursday's opponent, Rossi admitted Serbia's team had changed a lot and had become much more organised. Their coach Dragan Stojkovic, was also an outstanding player in the 1980s and 90s:

"He was one of the few who could embarrass Paolo Maldini. He has done great work so far, and has coached the team to qualification for the World Cup (in Qatar later this year) directly as qualifying group winners".

When Stojkovic spoke to the media, he said he'd supported Hungary at last year's European Championship, because in his opinion, our team played fast, modern football.

"Others have had trouble with them lately, so we may have a hard time on Thursday. We also respect our opponent for their results, so there is a prospect of a good match".

Ajax and Serbia forward Dusan Tadic also spoke:

"We take every training and every match as seriously as possible. We need to show that we are strong and (still) on the right track. Since the arrival of Stojkovic, everyone has been able to produce their best in the national team, and we'll have to work as a united team in Budapest too".

Marco Rossi oversaw Hungary’s last training session before the match, one which was mainly tactically-based. Although Ádám Lang received a kick on one of his ankles during the part of the training open to the media, he was able to finish the session, so all of the players present are available for selection.

Furthermore, Willi Orbán's dental check-up found everything to be fine, so he will join the squad on Friday and can start training on Saturday.

The Hungary-Serbia match will be held at 19:30 CET on Thursday 24th March in the Puskás Arena. Tickets are still available at meccsjegy.mlsz.hu.

After previous technical obstacles were overcome, it was also decided that VAR will be in use during the match.