Rossi's Hungary ready to go in Split

Hungary Men have arrived in Croatia ahead of their latest European Championship qualifier against last year's World Cup finalists in Split (kickoff: 20:45 CET). Prior to the match, injuries and suspensions made preparations difficult for head coach Marco Rossi, Ádám Nagy and Botond Baráth both banned for one match while Dominik Szoboszlai and Máté Pátkai have been ruled out due to injury. Despite the difficulties, Rossi's team will try to play in a similar way to that of recent European qualifiers, all the while knowing that they are taking on a rival ranked far higher than themselves.

"When developing our strategy for a match, we need to consider who the opponents are and where they are in relation to us. We cannot prepare to dominate and play football against World Cup finaists Croatia, but that does not mean that our attitude will chang to a state where we'd somehow try to defend for ninety minutes. We have the same principles in that we want to play football as we have done in the past. If we'd focus solely on defence and didn't try to emphasise any attacking play, we'd have no chance of a good result. Defence will be important but we must follow our vision of football. We've only had two trainings where we could practise tactics, which is far from ideal, but it was enough to get to grips with our basic strategy. We have to be prepared and we have done our utmost to be truly prepared in Split”, Rossi said.

Meanwhile, Máté Vida's last cap came three years ago but now he is a member of the team again. The midfielder, who plays his football in Dunajská Streda (Dunaszerdahely), Slovakia, is clear that the team will do everything in its power to gain a foothold in the game in Croatia and stay in the match.

"I was very pleased to be called up to the team but I'm not at all pleased that a wave of injuries was needed. I feel I deserve the invitation but now it's not me that matters, but the success of the team, so I'm working hard for the national team. It'll be difficult in Split so it's crucial to keep our defence compact, to close down areas of space and not let the Croatians settle. Our opponent has world-famous footballers who are extremely strong in attack. They will probably have a lot more of the ball than we will but no matter how difficult the task is, we will try to score goals too", Vida explained before the squad set off for Croatia.