Zoltán Gera announces latest U21 national squad

Defeat to Israel back in November means our U21 national team has virtually no chance of finishing second in their qualifying group, but there are still four European Championship qualifiers left, two of which will be played in the next two weeks. San Marino will visit on 24th March before Zoltán Ger's Hungary team takes on Poland in Zabrze five days later.

Head coach Zoltán Gera has named his squad for the two matches and has included the names of several new players. For the first time, Bálint Szabó from Paks, Bence Várkonyi from MTK and Krisztofer Horváth, who has excelled in the second division in Szeged, the latter two born in 2002, are all in this latest squad

Tamás Kiss, who will be playing with the adult team in November, and Botond Balogh, are also included, but Péter Baráth of Debrecen is missing this time, having been called up to the senior squad by Marco Rossi for the two fixtures against Serbia and Northern Ireland.

As for the U21 national team’s March opponents, San Marino are without a point and in last place in the group, while Poland are six points ahead of us, third in the group with 13 points, and are still fighting to reach the European Championship, having drawn 2-2 with Gera's side in Szeged last autumn.

"It's been a four-month break and a lot has happened in the players' lives since they last played in the national team. Some people have progressed during this period, while others have tried with less success in their careers and currently have fewer opportunities to play than in the autumn", Gera told mlsz.hu. "We've also called up some new players who have all performed well in recent months, because they deserve selection and I look forward to seeing what they will be able to do in the national team. Two completely different matches are waiting for us; success is obligatory at home against San Marino, but Poland are very strong, so a very difficult match awaits us. Our home qualifier against them, which ended in a draw, can be a good starting point for us against them, but we also need to perform better than we did that time in Szeged in order to achieve a positive result in Poland".

The Hungarian U21 national squad:

Goalkeepers:

Krisztián Hegyi (West Ham United)
Martin Auerbach (Csákvár)
Dániel Veszelinov (DAC)

Defenders:

Botond Balogh (Parma)
Olivér Tamás (Paksi FC)
Attila Mocsi (ZTE FC)
Bence Várkonyi (MTK Budapest)
Dániel Csóka (AFC Wimbledon)
Patrick Iyinbor (Vasas)

Midfielders:

Erik Kusnyir (DVSC)
Sámuel Major (Admira Wacker)
Sándor M Hidi (Vasas)
Mihály Kata (MTK Budapest)
Milos Kerkez (AZ Alkmaar)
György Komáromi (Puskás Akadémia)
Áron Csongvai (Újpest FC)
Bálint Szabó (Paksi FC)
Norbert Szendrei (MOL Fehérvár FC)
Szabolcs Mezei (MTK Budapest)

Forwards:

Tamás Kiss (Cambuur)
Krisztofer Horváth (Szeged)
Alen Skribek (Puskás Akadémia)
András Németh (Genk)