Hungarian national team: I would’ve been rude years ago, but my personality has changed – Rossi

Hungarian national team defenderÁdám Langstarted the press conference. He stated that the team's goal is to defeat San Marino with a convincing and dominant game.

„We talked about what we have to do to achieve this. Everyone has to be focused and we have to play football with courage, we have to take risks. The goal is to finish the World Cup qualifying series well, and we want to come up with a very good performance, which we can be happy together with the fans. We have to use those two games to build ourselves, be an even better team, and start the next series with an even better chance.”

Then Nemzeti Sport asked head coach Marco Rossi if he was already thinking about the future of the team.

„The fact is, because of the mistakes we've made, we can't make it to the World Cup anymore. The two defeats against Albania still hurt a lot. Yes, as you said, we have to prepare for the future as the squad I have put together for these two matches already shows.I called in some players because I'd count on them later – I mainly think of Botond Balogh and Tamás Kiss. I hope this will inspire youngsters who will then work even more in their club teams. We need to focus on skillful young people.”

The press conference then continued with the topic of what tasks await the national team after the World Cup qualifiers.

„Next time, we play in March. We'll have some friendly matches from which we can learn lessons regarding the Nations League, in which top teams are going to be our opponents. We could meet again with England, France, or even Italy and Spain. We must strive to increase the recognition of Hungary in these matches.”

The coach also received questions about how annoyed he is that since the beginning of the pandemic, clubs have often ordered their players back sooner or not let them join the national team at all.

„The coronavirus has overridden our ideas in many ways. As a representative of the national team, I abide by the rules.My patience has been tested several times in the last few months, but I find myself improving a lot. Years ago, I would've been rude in these cases, but my personality has changed.”

He revealed that Dénes Dibusz and Ádám Szalai will also be in the starting lineup against San Marino. The striker will also be a starter against Poland if nothing unexpected comes up.

Finally, he was asked if he knew anything about M4 Sport's announcement made on Monday night. Is it one of the players who resigns from the national team or will the head coach?

„I hope it's not related to me, but they didn't tell me either. I hope we don't hear about the federation replacing me. Joking aside, it's definitely not related to me. It is important that I enjoy the trust of the majority of the fans, and the president has also expressed his appreciation several times. I'd like to stay. I'm sure it doesn't apply to me, but I'm curious to see what the announcement is going to be.”

HUNGARIAN NATIONAL TEAM SQUAD
Goalkeepers:Ádám Bogdán(Ferencváros),Dénes Dibusz(Ferencváros),Péter Szappanos (Bp. Honvéd)
Defenders:Botond Balogh(Parma – Italy),Endre Botka(Ferencváros),Attila Fiola(MOL Fehérvár FC),Ákos Kecskés(FK Nizhny Novgorod – Russia),Ádám Lang (Omonia – Cyprus),Zsolt Nagy(Puskás Akadémia),Csaba Spandler(Puskás Akadémia),Attila Szalai(Fenerbahce – Turkey)
Midfielders:Dániel Gazdag(Philadelphia Union – United States),Ádám Nagy(Pisa – Italy),Loïc Négo(MOL Fehérvár FC),András Schäfer(FC DAC 1904 – Slovakia),Dominik Szoboszlai(RB Leipzig – Germany),Bálint Vécsei (Ferencváros)
Forwards:János Hahn (FC DAC 1904 – Slovakia),Tamás Kiss(SC Cambuur – Netherlands),Szabolcs Schön(FC Dallas – United States),Ádám Szalai(Mainz – Germany),Kevin Varga(Kasimpasa – Turkey)

ROUND 9
NOVEMBER 12, FRIDAY
8.45PM:HUNGARY–San Marino
8.45PM:Andorra–Poland
8.45PM:England–Albania

ROUND 10
NOVEMBER 15, MONDAY
8.45PM:Poland–HUNGARY
8.45PM:San Marino–England
8.45PM: Albania–Andorra

Translated by Vanda Orosz