Rossi: Finishing unbeaten says it all

Hungary men's national team defeated Montenegro 3-1 in their last Euro 2024 qualifier of the campaign, thus reaching next year's European Championship as group winners with five wins and three draws. After the match, head coach Marco Rossi explained the team had played at a higher tempo in the second half which, coupled with Dominik Szoboszlai's inspired display, helped the team turn the match around.

"Montenegro defended deeply in the first half and didn't leave much space in front of us, so we couldn't get into a good rhythm when we had the ball," Rossi admitted. "Our opponent has footballers with great physiques and numerous of them are outstandingly skilful, so we didn't have an easy task. In the first half, they imposed themselves on us and scored a goal by taking advantage of a mistake in our defence. In the second half, we switched to a higher gear and managed to turn the game around, primarily thanks to Dominik Szoboszlai, who scored two goals, but I'm also very happy to see Ádám Nagy appear on the scoresheet. Our opponent didn't have another shot at goal until the 80th minute, after which they created several chances which Dibusz did extremely well to repel. I admit we were too slow with the ball in the first half so we couldn't create many opportunities from our moves, but if you'd expect us to win every game with a stunning passage of play, something would be wrong with those expectations. There was one team on the pitch until the 80th minute, so we deserved to win. The fact that we've finished the qualifiers with 18 points and remained undefeated says everything about the national team's overall performance this year, something which can't be attributed to luck. It was a great feeling to celebrate at the end of the match; the way the Hungarian fans celebrate, it's hard to describe".