Three debutants and three returnees in Marco Rossi's latest squad

The Hungary squad for the third and fourth matchdays of the UEFA Nations League's qualification stages also sees three players, Ádám Gyurcsó, Dominik Nagy and Krisztián Németh, return to the fold after absences. Dominik Nagy was called up as recently as this June but injury prevented the midfielder from taking up that invitation, meaning his last international appearance was in June 2017, at the same time as Gyurcsó last pulled on a national-team jersey. Németh, meanwhile, played and scored for Hungary against Kazakhstan earlier this year in March.

Head coach Marco Rossi has scouted nearly 50 players ahead of naming this latest squad for these two important away qualifiers in October:

"I've named a slightly bigger squad this time because both matches will be away from home so I needed to think about what we'd do in the event of injuries or suspensions incurred in the first match which would rule players out of stepping onto the pitch in Estonia", Rossi told mlsz.hu. "Thanks to us having a bigger squad, we won't need to think about calling anyone up between the two matches. The main considerations during the squad's selection were physical condition, how they're training and how they've performed in matches so far this season, and those in the best condition of the near 50 players we've observed are the ones who've received call-ups".

Hungary's squad (surnames first)

Goalkeepers:

Dibusz Dénes (Ferencváros)
Gulácsi Péter (RB Leipzig)
Gróf Dávid (Budapest Honvéd)

Defenders:

Baráth Botond (Budapest Honvéd)
Bese Barnabás (Le Havre)
Fiola Attila (Mol Vidi FC)
Kádár Tamás (Dinamo Kiev)
Lang Ádám (CFR Cluj)
Lovrencsics Gergő (Ferencváros)
Orban Willi (RB Leipzig)
Vinícius Paulo (Mol Vidi FC)

Midfielders:

Kalmár Zsolt (DAC)
Kleinheisler László (FK Astana)
Kovács István (Mol Vidi FC)
Nagy Ádám (Bologna FC 1909)
Nagy Dominik (Legia Warsaw)
Nagy Gergő (Budapest Honvéd FC)
Pátkai Máté (Mol Vidi FC)

Forwards:

Eppel Márton (Kahrat Almati)
Gyurcsó Ádám (Hajduk Split)
Holender Filip (Budapest Honvéd)
Németh Krisztián (Sporting Kansas City)
Sallai Roland (SC Freiburg)
Szalai Ádám (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim)
Varga Roland (Ferencváros)

Of the three new names in the squad, Willi Orban's call-up caused the most surprise. That Orbán might be eligible for the national team first came to the attention of former coach Bernd Storck but at that point the central defender stated that he wanted to delay his decision of which national team to play for, since he was also eligible for Germany and Poland. Later, Georges Leekens also wished to convince Orban to be a member of his squads but it was only under Rossi that the RB Leipzig central defender finally announced he was delighted to become a Hungarian international footballer.

"I'm very happy to have affiliated myself with the Hungarian national team", Orbán admitted. "For any professional footballer in the same situation as I am, it is a very difficult and serious task to decide which national team to play for.  I've now made this decision and am happy I'm able to play for Hungary. My decision was helped tremendously by only hearing good things from my clubmate Péter Gulácsi about the squad members and the backroom staff. It's also true in regard to the supporters, whom I already know are fantastic. I would very much like to be able to help the team as best and as soon as possible and for the fans to be satisfied with the national team's play and my own performance too. I have a pleasurable excitement in me now and hax so at the time of the squad announcement too. I can hardly wait to begin preparations with the Hungarian national team".

Willi Orban's 'signing' exemplifies how MLSZ's backroom staff are continually observing overseas players to discover interesting, important players for the Hungarian national team. Currently Leipzig defender Orbán is not the only player whose career is being tracked by Hungary's technical staff.

"I'm naturally very happy at Willi Orban's decision and I hope that he'll feel good in our team and will be successful with us", Rossi confirmed. "A player playing in the German Bundesliga is without doubt a great addition to the national team. Hungarian football coaches have long been aware of him and I've also watched him. I won't deny either that U21 team coach Michael Boris and I had also planned to call up Palkó Dárdai, but Palkó has yet to decide whether he would like to strengthen the Hungarian or the German national-team setups. I have agreed with and have been assured by his father that Palkó is in no way ruling out the Hungarian national team. We've resolved to give Palkó time in the interests of his development so that he can fully consider his options, because - as we can see in the case of Willi Orbán - it is a difficult decision for a young player and no one else can make it for them". 

Willi Orban will be able to make his Hungary debut as soon as 12th October away against Greece. For the speed of his baturalisation process being completed, we can thank the Foreign Ministry.

Most of this latest national-team squad will arrive at the national team training centre in  Telki on Sunday evening ahead of three days' training and a Thursday morning departure to Athens. The Hungarian delegation will leave the Greek capital after the match for Tallin in Estonia where they will pay their second match in four days.

PROFILE

Name: Vilmos Tamás "Willi" Orban
Birthplace and date: Kaiserslautern (Germany), November 3rd 1992.
Height: 186 cm
Weight: 83 kg
Position: central defender
Best foot: right
Club: RB Leipzig
Bundesliga matches: 59
Matches in European competition: 15
Matches at international level: 2 (Germany U21)