Two Paks players called up as national squad gathers in Telki

As usual, Monday's training session took place in two groups, one a regeneration session for those who'd played a match at the weekend, while the others trained on the main pitch of the Telki training centre under the guidance of Marco Rossi. Before the training session, Péter Gulácsi and one of the squad's newcomers, Alex Tóth, participated in the first press conference of the week.

"My absence from recent previous matches was perhaps portrayed in a worse fashion than it should have been, because it often happens in international football that players miss a national-team match due to the tight competition schedule", Gulácsi explained. "At the age of 35, after a long injury, I'm trying to ensure I stay healthy, so I made a rational decision to miss the most recent two matches. Now though, I'm very happy to have received a call-up again and to be here in Telki. I always enjoy joining up with the national team; I really look forward to the matches and I hope we'll complete a successful week. The Nations League is an important competition and we want to stay in Division A, but for this, we have to overcome a very strong Turkish national team consisting of excellent players, one which also performed well at the European Championship last summer. We know what kind of atmosphere awaits us in the away match, but we want to reciprocate that atmosphere at home. The Hungarian national football team's 1,000th match is coming up, which is a very important milestone from a historical perspective, but it is even more important for us that we successfully conclude our tie against Turkey at the end of our 1,001st match."

Meanwhile, Ferencváros midfielder Alex Tóth admitted he's very happy that an old dream of his has come true with his selection to the national team, and he's glad his squadmates in Telki have been so welcoming:

"The world has turned upside down for me, because in December I was still playing for Soroksár in the Hungarian second tier and now I am here in the national team. It's an indescribable happiness that Marco Rossi is counting on me, and it's very good that everyone has been extremely welcoming to me since I arrived at the camp," Tóth said.

Head coach Marco Rossi will hold his only full training session on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, after the squad's morning training session, the delegation will travel to Istanbul, the venue of Thursday's match.