Under 19s prove the equal of Greece in Athens

Hungary have now started their preparations for the next stage of Europe's premier Under 19 international competition which will take place in Macedonia from 21st March, their rivals in that mini-tournament being none other than title-holders England, Latvia and hosts Macedonia with just one finals qualification spot up for grabs. This week featured the first of two warm-up matches for Antal Németh's squad versus Greece with the second coming later this month against Portugal.

Wednesday opponents have also qualified for the Elite round but it was Hungary who dominated the opening exchanges without being able to convert any of the clear chances they created, credit also being due to the hosts' goalkeeper who pulled off some excellent saves. After the break, Greece came back into the game and also had opportunities to score, but Puskás Akadémia goalkeeper Ádám Varga was in excellent form to repel several Greek efforts on goal. Nevertheless, Hungary defended stoutly and in organised fashion while still posing a threat in the opposition's half, but ultimately neither side could find that crucial goal with which they could confirm superiority.

Antal Németh, Hungary U19s head coach:
"We played better in the first half and the Greeks were better in the second period so from this point of view, a draw was a fair result. We've spent a useful four days together, we were able to try out six players who haven't been national-team players recently and we could assure ourselves of the current form of the 23 provisional squad members. I'm satisfied with the players' approach and performances and I think the team is on the right track.I would like to especially thank the clubs for releasing their players to the national team during this important preparation period".

Greece 0-0 Hungary
Hungary (surnames first): Bese Balázs (Varga Ádám, 46') - Krebsz Máté, Schindler Olivér (Zwick Noah, 75'), Berdó Máté (Takács Zsombor, 46'), Kiliti Róbert (Tarnóczi Roland, 75') - Tiefenbach Dániel (Lustyik Levente, 61'), Stoiacovici Dávid (Palincsár Martin, 46'), Schafer András (Csonka András, 61') - Májer Milán (Szuhodovszki Soma, 46'), Kundrák Norbert (Lakatos István, 46'), Schön Szabolcs (Bévárdi Zsombor, 61')