U17 World Cup: Ecuador defeat ends Hungary's dream

Head coach Sándor Preisinger's team sat on one point after the first two games and knew that only a win against Ecuador in their final group match would seal progression to the U17 World Cup.

Preisinger therefore took the risk of selecting an attacking starting line-up which included György Komáromi, a scorer against Nigeria in the opening 4-2 loss to Nigeria. Their South American opponent, meanwhile, was unchanged from their previous two matches, meaning their head coach had opted for the same starting eleven in all three of their group matches.

The opening minutes saw the South Americans with more possession of the ball, and although they were visibly pro-active in trying to find a gap in the Hungarian defence, they didn't really create any dangerous opportunities. Hungary also initiated some encouraging attacks and actually created the first chance when Gergö Ominger crossed from the left in the 14th minute, but Rajmund Molnár couldn't quite connect with the ball in front of goal.

In the 23rd minute, the Chinese referee awarded a penalty to Ecuador but VAR intervened and after viewing a replay, the referee changed his decision and thus withdrew the yellow card given to Krisztián Hegyi. Both sides pressed for a first-half lead but neither were successful and so the half-time whistle sounded with the game goalless and evenly-poised.

There were no changes for either side at the break, Ecuador continuing to rely on the creativity of their four quick, technical attackers, while keeping five or six players in midfield to try to starve Hungary of any meaningful possession. However, they didn't manage to pay enough attention to Hungary's forward further up the pitch, András Németh controing the ball inside the penalty area and powering a shot off the crossbar and down into the Ecuador net to hand his side a 52nd-minute lead.

Ecuador went close to an equaliser soon after, whie Hungary's Molnár nearly doubled his side's advantage with a shot that few just wide of the left post, his last action before being replaced by Csaba Mester. Predictably, the South-American nation upped the tempo as they sought parity and they got what they wanted in the 66th minute, defender Botond Balogh making the wrong decision and being unable to clear from deep in his own half, at which point he was dispossessed by Mina who then pulled the ball back for Vite to fire the ball into the bottom-left corner of Hegyi's goal from 11 metres.

The situation went from bad to worse for Preisinger's charges when uncertainty in defence again surrendered the ball in a dangerous position, Mercado shooting past Hegyi from the edge of the penalty area to put Ecuador 2-1 up in the 68th minute. Hungary regained hope in the 73rd minute when Németh dispatched Kosznovszky's left-wing corner into the net six metres from goal and there were even claims for a penalty four minutes later when Ominger seemed to have been brought down, but the referee waved away Hungarian appeals after viewing video replays.

It looked as if the next mistake or moment of magic would be crucial and so it proved in the 86th minute, Horváth failing to clear the ball and Mina mercilessly punishing the mistake to edge Ecuador back in front. Kosznovszky tried a shot from distance as Hungary sought a late equaliser but the goalkeeper easily gathered his effort, while on the counter-attack, Valencia shot onto the roof of the net. There were to be no more goals though, Hungary ultimately losing 3-2 and slipping out of the competition at the group stage.

"It's hard to say anything after that because again, we were the ones who won the match for the opponent", Preisinger commented after the final whistle. "Our game was working well and we were in the lead, but at the World Cup, mistakes in front of our own goal will not go unpunished. The players have given everything and I can't fault them for effort, but unfortunately many elements of our game are not at the level of our opponents in this World Cup. We need to accept the appropriate lessons and learn a lot from these three matches in the interests of our own development".

Hungary 2-3 Ecuador (HT: 0-0)
Hungary: Krisztián Hegyi; Patrik Posztobányi, Botond Balogh, Milán Horváth, György Komáromi; Mihály Kata, Péter Baráth, Gergő Ominger (Dávid László, 85); Sámuel Major (Márk Kosznovszky, 65), Rajmund Molnár (56) .), András Németh
Ecuador: J. López - Moran (Chávez, 58), Delgado, Hincapie, Cabezas - Angulo - Mina, Vite (J. Farfán, 84), Pluas, Mercado - Mejia (Ed. Valencia, 59).