We look at current athletes who could have represented Hungary on the international stage.
Tim Howard
The big American shot-stopper was born to an African-American father and a Hungarian mother. Despite holding Hungarian citizenship, he decided to represent the USA. Over an international career lasting 15 years, he has made 121 appearances for the Stars and Stripes and is regarded as one of the greatest American goalkeepers of all time.
Howard played in the Premier League for 13 years, representing Manchester United and Everton. He currently plies his trade at Colorado Rapids in the MLS and will retire at the end of 2019.
Even though he decided to represent the USA, he has expressed his pride of his Hungarian roots. On the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian revolution, he released the following video to commemorate the events:
If that is not enough, he also has a tattoo of his Grandfather in Hungarian military uniform on his torso.
Johanna Konta
Born to Hungarian parents in Australia, she moved to England at the age of 14. Initially, she represented Australia, but after gaining British citizenship in 2012, she has been playing for Great Britain.
Her move decision was caught up in controversy due to the intent behind her switch.There are theories circulating that the decision behind her moving to Britain was to represent them on the international stage in the future and gain the lucrative financial benefits that the British federation offers.
She has never expressed an interest in representing Hungary. Since her decision, she has given numerous interviews to both British and Hungarian papers on her patriotic feelings towards Britain. Despite the might of British tennis backing her, she is yet to win a single Grand Slam.
Dzsenifer Marozsán
The Budapest-born footballer moved to Germany at the age of 4 and is the daughter of former Hungarian international János Marozsán. Marozsán chose to represent Germany as she felt that the women’s game was not developing in the right direction in Hungary. Since her controversial decision, she has represented Die Nationalelf 89 times and is 6 goals shy of becoming the 10th highest German goalscorer of all time. She has won the Women’s Champions League three times, once with FFC Frankfurt and twice with Olympique Lyon.
Tímea Bacsinkszky
Bacsinszky was born to a Transylvanian father and Hungarian mother in Switzerland. Despite visiting Szatmárnémeti/Satu Mare during her childhood, she lived her whole life in Switzerland. Over her career, she has accumulated over $6 million worth of prize money and has made three Grand Slam semi-finals.
Here is a Hungarian interview she gave to maszol.ro last year:
Ted Ligety
Born in Utah, Ted Ligety is an American skier who has won gold at the 2006 Torino and 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. Specialising in combined and giant slalom events, he has won 5 gold medals at the World Championships between 2003 and 2015. The veteran is showing no signs of slowing down and he is still a regular name on the ski calendar.
We actually reported his gold medal win at the Sochi Olympic Games back in 2014.
Are you interested in Hungarian football? We have written a short guide on the Budapest Derby.
Featured images: Wiki Commons and https://www.facebook.com/dzseni.marozsan/
Source: maszol.ro
