Rossi: "We're ready for the two contests ahead of us"

“Turkish football has developed a lot recently. They play dynamically, but at the same time they are disciplined, especially since Vincenzo Montella became the national team head coach,” Hungary goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi admitted at a press conference on Thursday. “I expect an exciting and interesting match between two evenly-matched teams. For my club (RB Leipzig), I’ve played against Turkish players several times, so I know Turkish footballers possess very good individual qualities. We (Hungary) have already played several matches against Turkey, but unfortunately without spectators, so now fans can finally be in the stadium and this will give both teams extra motivation. We expect a tough match, but of course victory is our goal. We have four warm-up matches before Euro 2024, two now and two in June, and we want to use these to prepare as well as possible for this summer’s continental tournament”.

Hungary head coach Marco Rossi joined in with the praise for Montella and his team. “I’ve already said that the choice of opponent was my decision, as well as that of Vincenzo Montella and the two federations,” Rossi clarified. “Since my compatriot took over the management of the Turkish national team, they have been playing very dynamic, decisive and aggressive football. They’ve been undefeated for a long time and even beat Germany in Berlin. The undefeated streak is also a very important source of confidence for us, but we shouldn’t attach too much importance to it. Of course, we’ll try to continue the run, but Turkey are a very strong opponent. We want to prepare perfectly for the European Championship and these fixtures all serve this purpose".

Rossi also confirmed that Willi Orbán is suffering from a minor problem with a thigh muscle, so unfortunately he won’t be able to play in these two matches, but that on the positive side, Márton Dárdai will definitely play in one of the matches, thereby making his international debut.

Hungary’s fxtures in March 2024:

Hungary v Turkey, Puskás Aréna, Friday, 22 March, KO: 20:45

Hungary v Kosovo, Puskás Aréna, Tuesday, 24 March, KO: 19:00

A limited number of tickets are still available for the match against Kosovo at meccsjegy.mlsz.hu.

On the same day, AS Roma defender Zeki Celik represented Turkey’s players  in the press conference:

“Hungary are a very energetic team,” Celik explained. “We’ve seen how well they perform and we know the styles of the two teams are very similar. I expect an intense match, because this is an important stage in both teams' European Championship preparations”.

Turkey head coach Vincenzo Montella also praised our national team.

“Hungary’s results in recent years speak for themselves. They ’ve only been beaten three times and have a team built very knowledgably and with great skill and effort, so I expect a difficult match,” Rossi’s Italian compatriot concluded.