U19 men's squad to play again after almost 18 months

Competitions for national youth teams had been suspended for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but normal life will resume in March this year when the European Championship qualifiers will be held for the U19 age group. Hungary will play against Norway, Iceland and Andorra at the end of March, only one team from the group advancing to the play-offs. Originally, Norway would have been the host, but the Scandinavian country withdrew that offer so Iceland will step in as mini-tournament hosts instead.

Before these competitive fixtures, three warm-up matches await the Hungarian side coached by Márton Oross, firstly against Slovakia in Gyirmót on Tuesday followed by games with Croatia in mid-February and Austria in mid-March.

The U19 national team is made up of footballers born on or after 1st January 2002, this group having made it to the U17 European Championships in Ireland in 2019, a fifth-place finish ensuring qualification for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Brazil later that year. This group played their last competitive international match together in that tournament in Brazil in October 2019.

Most of the players based abroad have not been able to travel home this time, so the coaching staff will be able to try out several players who've not been members of the squad yet.

"It's been a long time since the last national team matches, so everyone is excited about the match against Slovakia," head coach Oross told mlsz.hu."There have been a lot of changes in the age group in the last almost year and a half. Some players have moved up into other squads and several have already earned a stable place in a professional adult squad. This is an important stage in the players’ careers because during this period it can be decided who can achieve their goals. Many of the former key members of this age group won't be here at this training camp, but this also gives others the opportunity to prove they should be considered for future selection. Of course, I take into account who has gained international experience, but no one can enjoy national-team membership as a right just because they've been a member of this team for years. I want to see healthy competition between players and I'm confident we'll see the development of individuals while playing for the national team play".

The match against Slovakia in Gyirmót will be broadcast live on the MLSZ YouTube channel.

The U19 national squad:

Goalkeepers:

Martin Auerbach (Puskás Akadémia)
Márk Németh (Újpest FC)
Barnabás Ruisz (ETO FC Győr)

Defenders:

Attila Szabados (ETO FC Győr)
Zoltán Dávid (KBSC)
Milán Horváth (Siófok)
Zalán Debreceni (Haladás)
Zétény Hosszú (Puskás Akademia)
Americo Pereira (ETO FC Győr)
Péter Kiss-Szemán (Vasas)
Csongor Katona (Vasas)

Midfielders:

Roland Leholzky (MTK Budapest)
Bertalan Kapornai (Vasas)
Borisz Tóth (KBSC)
Patrik Posztobányi (Csákvár)
Barnabás Kovács (ZTE)
Gergő Ominger (Puskás Akadémia)

Forwards:

Milán Tóth (Haladás)
Milán Vitális (ETO FC Győr)
Kevin Kállai (Haladás)
György Komáromi (Puskás Akadémia)
Szabolcs Szalay (ZTE)
Balázs Farkas (ETO FC Győr)
Benedek Kalmár (Puskás Akademia)
Rajmund Molnár (Benfica)