Rossi expecting an open match against Slovakia

The Hungarian national team has been preparing for Monday evening’s Euro 2020 Qualifier against Slovakia – which kicks off at the Groupama Aréna at 20:45 – since last Thursday’s friendly against Montenegro. Prior to the official training session on Sunday, Hungary head coach Marco Rossi and team captain Balázs Dzsudzsák spoke to the press in Telki.

Dzsudzsák began by making a request to supporters. “Firstly, as team captain, I’d like to thank the fans on behalf of the team for the fantastic support they have given us in the matches so far. We’re playing a special match tomorrow. UEFA are also aware of this and will be paying special attention to what happens in the stands. We’ve already received a fine in the recent past. We are confident that the match will pass off without any pyrotechnics or racist behaviour, as there will certainly be a heavy fine from UEFA if this isn’t the case. It is extremely important to us all that we play our final home qualifier against Azerbaijan in front of a full house and the usual fantastic atmosphere in the Groupama Aréna.

Additionally, it would be ideal if everyone give their support right up until the final whistle because this gives the team the greatest boost. I expect a very good match and I can promise that the fans will see a fired-up, motivated Hungary team take to the pitch. Hopefully everyone will be fit to play on Monday and we can play our strongest XI. We’ll be doing all we can to win. The mood in the camp is relaxed; everyone knows what the past ten days and this match are about. We’re chomping at the bit and hungry for the three points”, Dzsudzsák added.

Head coach Marco Rossi emphasised that last week’s friendly against Montenegro and Slovakia’s 4-0 reverse at home to Croatia on Friday, will have little bearing on what happens on Monday evening.

“Both we and Slovakia warmed up for this match with a defeat but these matches cannot be compared. We rang the changes in Montenegro and for that I of course take full responsibility. The match provided an opportunity to try a few things out; I paid particular attention to certain players and came to some important conclusions. We have some players who are indispensable in terms of us implementing our game plan and we couldn’t risk injuries to any of them. Slovakia played well against Croatia in the first half, and still held their own after the second goal. We’re talking about a strong team which possesses outstanding tactical discipline. We need to be clever and disciplined; no one can stray from our game plan”, said Rossi, who said that he would see how the two injury doubts – Ádám Nagy and Máté Pátkai – got on in training on Sunday before making a decision about their inclusion for the match.

“We’re facing very strong opponents but at the same time we can take confidence from the fact that, in our qualifiers so far, we’ve proved that it’s not easy to play against us here. I’m expecting it to be an open match and we’ll need our fantastic supporters to play their part too. Playing at home we can summon great reserves, but if we fall into the trap of considering ourselves favourites, we’re certain to lose the match. For the Slovaks, the match against us is more important than the one against Croatia and our opponents will show that when they take to the pitch”, added Rossi.

Dzsudzsák echoed those thoughts about taking Slovakia’s result against Croatia on Friday as a starting point. “It’s true that we’ll be facing an opponent which has been wounded; it’s exceedingly difficult to get a four-goal defeat out of your system and requires great mental strength. We have one objective and that is to win. We’ll be playing in front of our fantastic supporters and if we focus on ourselves then that can bring success. I’m confident in the team and our tactics” the al-Ittihad winger concluded.