Hungary have drawn Norway in the draw for the qualifying play-offs for the 2016 European Championship in France next summer. The draw was made in Nyon on Sunday and saw Hungary drawn last out of the eight teams. Norway finished third in a qualifying group including Italy, Croatia and Bulgaria with 19 points garnered from six victories and one draw and a goal record of 13 scored, 10 conceded. Hungary’s record against Norway reads seven wins, five draws and five defeats with 32 goals scored and 19 shipped. The last meeting was in 2012 when Norway won 2-0 in Budapest.

Hungary will play away in Norway in the first pay-off leg on 12th November before the second leg takes place at the Groupama Aréna in Budapest on 15th November. The other ties in the play-offs are Sweden v Denmark, Republic of Ireland v Bosnia and Slovenia v Ukraine.

Bernd Storck, Hungary head coach:

Before the draw I had no particular preference in terms of opponent because whoever reaches this stage is, I am sure, an excellent team. It was my wish that we’d start with the away leg so from a team perspective it has been a good draw. I know Norwegian football very well – no one needs to introduce the opposition to us – so we know an excellent team awaits us. They were due to qualify from their group right up until the end and the Italians only overhauled them in the last moments. Now we need to focus on preparing the team well in terms of the opponent’s game and playing a tight match away from home so that, with the support of the crowd, we have a chance of creating history and qualifying for the European Championships.

Photo: MTI

Hungary’s Under 21 team are third in their European Championship qualifying group after an away loss in Portugal and a home draw against an impressive Albania in the last week.

Portugal are traditionally very strong at this level and their team containing several players with UEFA Champions League experience were too much for Robert Kilin’s side in Penafiel, despite a spirited performance from the visitors who had several key players missing due to their presence in the full national-team squad. Portugal captain Bruno Fernandes opening the scoring in the 35th minute with a low shot from 22 metres and Hungary goalkeeper Gergely Nagy kept the scoreline at 1-0 going into the break with a superb save from Bruno’s 18-metre shot in the penultimate minute of the half. Roland Sallai came on for Dávid Forgács at the interval and brighten prospects for Hungary who suddenly started to play more in the opponent’s half, but Portugal still managed to stretch their lead with their first attack of the second period, the ball eventually ending up at Gonçalo Paciência’s feet after a neat passing move in the 56th minute for him to slip the ball into an empty net. Neither team threatened much thereafter so it was Portugal who emerged vitorious with a two-goal win.

Back on home turf four days later, Hungary took on an Albania side full of young players from some of Europe’s top clubs and it was the visitors who took the lead in the 24th minute when Rei Manaj arrived at the far right side of the goal and crashed a volley past Gergely Nagy and into the far left corner of the net from Endri Çekiçi’s cross. The hosts were soon back on terms though when Dániel Prosser curled a beautiful left-footed shot high into the left side of the Albania goal from the edge of the penalty area just four minutes later. Lindon Latifi restored Albania’s lead just before half-time with a close-range finish from a low right-wing cross but Prosser again came to Hungary’s rescue, this time with an unstoppable 63rd-minute equaliser from 11 metres out. Neither side gave up hope of a winner but in the end the spoils were shared.

These results leave Hungary on four points from three games in the group, their only win so far coming in a 6-0 away thrashing of Leichtenstein last month. Their next matches come next month away in Israel and at home against Greece.

Photo: MTI

Hungary will have to wait until Tuesday evening for its next chance to qualify for EURO 2016 after Romania’s 2-0 in the Faroe Islands confirmed the last automatic qualification spot in group F alongside Northern Ireland would be theirs and therefore rendered Hungary’s 4-3 loss away in Greece meaningless.

Hungary had recovered from an early Greece goal through Gergő Lovrencsics’ header and then taken the lead twice through Krisztián Németh, but were twice pegged back almost immediately in the Karaiskakis stadium, home of Greek giants Olympiakos, and then conceded the winning goal in the final few minutes as the effects of two big matches in four days began to take their toll.

Tuesday’s chance of qualification comes because of the fact that Bernd Storck’s side lead the race to finish as the best third-placed team of all the groups when results against the last-placed teams are discounted. The only teams which can still overtake them in this respect are Ukraine who host reigning European champions Spain in Kiev tonight and Turkey. A draw or a win for Spain in group C on Monday and a failure by Turkey OR Kazakhstan to win in group A on Tuesday will mean Hungary will qualify for their first European Championship in 44 years without the need to go through a play-off phase which all the other eight third-placed teams will contest for the remaining four places in the 24-team tournament finals in France next summer.

Bernd Storck, Hungary head coach:

We wanted to win this match and what also follows is that we knew at half-time that the Romanians were winning 2-0 in the Faroes. It was an enjoyable match and a pity that we conceded goals in the last ten minutes. At the end of the match we didn’t have the required physical strength and we also had problems during this defeat because Thursday’s match took a lot out of us.

In defence of this defeat I can’t criticise my team who gave everything to gain the three points and scored three nice goals. In the last 20 minutes we had to be careful that our key players didn’t incur bookings which would have ruled them out of possible future matches so we decided to substitute them. Let’s not forget how strong our opponent were and I feel that in this match we showed we can compete with Greece.

Greece 4–3 Hungary (H/T: 1-1)

Athens, Karaiskakis Stadium. Referee: Bebek

Greece: Karnezis – Kiciu, Moras, Papastathopoulos (Canetopoulos, 63.), Stafilidis (Holebas, 35.) – Samaris, Tahcidis – Mandalos, Fortunis, Pelkas – Mitroglou.

Hungary: Király G. – Fiola, Juhász R., Kádár, Leandro – Lovrencsics (Nikolics, 62.), Elek, Gera (Nagy Á., 71.), Dzsudzsák (Kalmár, 71.) – Böde, Németh K.

Goalscorers: GRE: Stafilidis (5′), Tahcidis (57′), Mitroglou (79′), Kone (86′) HUN: Lovrencsics (26′), Németh K. (54′, 75′)

Photo: MTI

Dániel Böde came off the bench to score two well-taken goals against the Faroe Islands and keep his Hungary team in contention for a place at next summer’s UEFA European Championships in France. Róaldur Jakobsen had given the visitors an early lead but substitute Böde turned the state of the match around within eight second-half minutes to condemn the Faroes, who had captain Atli Gregersen dismissed in added time, to a second defeat at the hands of Hungary in this campaign.

Hungary were first to threaten from Zoltán Gera’s cross in the seventh minute but Nemanja Nikolic’s attempted dink over Faroese goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen dropped agonisingly wide. Four minutes later and it was the visitors who took a surprise lead when Joan Edmundsson slid the ball into Jakobsen with his back to goal who then turned Roland Juhász and dispatched the ball coolly past Gábor Király’s left hand low into the right corner of the net.

The home side tried to force their way back into the game with long-range shots from Balázs Dzsudzsák, Ádám Bódi and Dániel Tőzsér but they were dealt with competently by Nielsen who also impressed in saving Hungary’s best chance of the first period just before the break when he blocked Ádám Bódi’s low drive after the Debreceni VSC winger had been given a sight of goal 14 metres out to the right of the goal.

Hungary had struggled to break down a stubborn Faroese defence with through passes so a change of tactics was very much welcome at half-time, as was the double substitution of Bódi and Dániel Tőzser who made way for strikers Dániel Böde and Krisztián Németh.

Although Németh played well, it was Böde who instantly exerted influence over the game and ultimately grabbed the headlines. Firstly he planted a perfect header back across the goal and into the far left corner of the net from Tamás Kádár’s excellent left-wing cross in the 63rd minute before eight minutes later completing a stunning turnaround for Hungary when he showed neat footwork to evade two defenders and smash a rocket of a right-footed shot high into the left side of the Faroe goal from 12 metres out.

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There were few scares after this and Hungary to their credit kept pushing for the third goal which would have taken the sting out of the game. In the end though a third goal wasn’t needed and Bernd Storck’s side can now approach Sunday early evening’s final group F fixture in Greece with renewed confidence. A play-off place has now been secured but automatic qualification to EURO 2016 is still possible if they can beat Romania’s result in the Faroe Islands or if they finish as the the campaign’s best 3rd-placed team from across the qualifying groups.

Budapest, Üllői út, ko: 20:45. Ref: Schörgenhofer (Austria)

Hungary: Király – Fiola, Juhász, Guzmics, Kádár – Nagy Á., Tőzsér (Németh K., 46′) – Bódi (Böde, 46′), Gera, Dzsudzsák – Nikolics (Priskin, 75.)

Faroes: G. Nielsen – Naes, Gregersen, Nattestad (Faerö, 84.), Davidsen – R. Joensen (Sörensen, 78.), S. Vatnhamar, Baldvinsson, Jakobsen (P. Justinussen, 62.), Bartalsstovu – Edmundsson

Goalscorers: Böde 63., 71.; Jakobsen 11.

Red card: Gregersen (93.)

Photo: MTI

Due to an appeal lodged by the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ), UEFA’s Appeals committee has suspended the body’s original decision and will further examine the evidence of the Hungary v Romania match last month, a decision which means that while the threat of sanctions has not been withdrawn, the further time needed to consider the case means that in the meantime spectators can be admitted to the Groupama Stadion in Budapest for Thursday’s final home EURO 2016 group-stage qualifier against the Faroe Islands. Aside from on the internet there are more than 300 outlets nationwide where match tickets can be purchased.

In this situation and keeping the successful performance of the team in mind, it is vital that there is no manifestation of unsportsmanlike behaviour which could result in us suffering a competitive disadvantage during the rest of this qualifying campaign.

Photo: MTI

Hungary head coach Bernd Storck has called up yet more young talent from the country’s youth ranks as his squad starts preparations for October’s final EURO 2016 group-stage qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Greece.

8th October is the date for the final home match against the Faroe Islands at the Groupama Aréna in a behind-closed-doors match before the final away game three days later against Greece at the home of Olympiakos in Piraeus, Athens, both fixtures for which Mr Storck has named a 33-man squad. As well as the squad regulars there are several players from the Under 21 setup who are named such as Attila Osvtáh and Szilveszter Hangya and other youngsters including Dávid Márkvárt, Enfre Botka, Zsolt Kalmár and Ádám Nagy.

The latest full national-team squad

Goalkeepers:

Bogdán Ádám (Liverpool)
Dibusz Dénes (Ferencváros)
Gulácsi Péter (RB Leipzig)
Király Gábor (Haladás)
Megyeri Balázs (Getafe)

Defenders:

Fiola Attila (Puskás Akadémia)
Botka Endre (Budapest Honvéd)
Osváth Attila (Vasas)
Juhász Roland (Videoton FC)
Vanczák Vilmos (FC Sion)
Guzmics Richárd (Wisla Krakow)
Pintér Ádám (Ferencváros)
Lang Ádám (Videoton FC)
Kádár Tamás (Lech Poznan)
Leandro (Ferencváros)
Bosnjak Predrag (Haladás)
Hangya Szilveszter (Vasas)

Midfielders:

Elek Ákos (Changchun Yatai)
Nagy Ádám (Ferencváros)
Varga József (Debreceni VSC-Teva)
Tőzsér Dániel (Queens Park Rangers)
Márkvárt Dávid (Puskás Akadémia)
Bódi Ádám (Debreceni VSC-Teva)
Gera Zoltán (Ferencváros)
Kalmár Zsolt (RB Leipzig)

Forwards:

Nikolics Nemanja (Legia Warsaw)
Stieber Zoltán (Hamburger SV)
Lovrencsics Gergő (Lech Poznan)
Dzsudzsák Balázs (Bursaspor)
Németh Krisztián (Sporting Kansas City)
Szalai Ádám (Hoffenheim)
Priskin Tamás (Slovan Bratislava)
Böde Dániel (Ferencváros)

Photo: MTI

Hungary Women’s Under 19 national team qualified for next spring’s 2016 UEFA European Championship Elite Round in style by beating Kazakhstan 5-0 in Bük today thanks to a brace from captain Zsanette Kaján and further goals from Emese Szakonyi, Mónika Gelb and Lilla Turányi.

The win combined with Serbia’s 6-1 loss at the hands of group winners Germany means Hungary qualify for the Elite Round next March in second place in the four-team table.

Sándor Turtóczki, Hungary head coach:
At the start of the first half we made it difficult for ourselves and couldn’t convert our first few chances, so we became a little bit more nervous and the girls a bit flustered. However, we relaxed after the opening goal and finally the difference between the two teams became apparent – our victory was well-deserved by virtue of this difference. I am delighted that we have a team which can play a tournament successfully in the way we had planned it and I take my hat off to the girls in recognition that in every measurable way we realised our plans by playing conscious, disicplined football.

Hungary-Kazakhstan 5-0 (4-0)

Hungary: Schildkraut Fruzsina – Kun Barbara, Turányi Lilla, Németh Hanna, Szabó Dorottya – Csányi Diána (Vicai Katalin, 71.), Gruber Brigitta – Szakonyi Emese (Krascsenics Petra, 75.), Kocsán Petra, Gelb Mónika (Magyarics Zoé, 86.) – Kaján Zsanett

Goalscorers: Kaján 16., 35. Szakonyi 40., Gelb 44., Turányi 73.

Bernd Storck has narrowed down his initial 33-man shortlist to a confirmed 25-man squad for the EURO 2016 qualifiers against Romania at home on 4th September and Northern Ireland away three days later.

28 outfield players and five goalkeepers had made up the squad picked by Mr Storck in his first match as Hungary national team coach and from that list several players promoted from the youth national teams such as Ferencváros’ Ádám Nagy, Honvéd’s Endre Botka and RB Leipzig’s Zsolt Kalmár have remained in his current thoughts. In addition, defender Pedrag Bosnjak of Haladás and midfielder Ádám Bódi of Debreceni VSC have been called into the squad. Well-known names to have been released from the squad include veteran Tamás Hajnal, Roland Szolnoki and József Varga. This final squad will gather together on 31st August to start their preparations.

Mr Storck commented: “For weeks the staff have concentrated on these matches and therefore I am sure that the next ten days will be most beneficial for the squad which gathers. The task is made harder because we are playing the most important match of the year at the start of the season when some of our players have perhaps not since the end of Spring been playing in the most testing of matches. We are constantly preparing though and arrive before these matches in good condition”.

The Hungarian national team squad:

Goalkeepers:
Gábor Király (Haladás)
Dénes Dibusz (Ferencváros)
Ádám Bogdán (Liverpool)

Defenders:
Attila Fiola (Puskás Akadémia)
Endre Botka (Budapest Honvéd)
Roland Juhász (Videoton FC)
Vilmos Vanczák (FC Sion)
Richárd Guzmics (Wisla Krakow)
Ádám Lang (Videoton FC)
Tamás Kádár (Lech Poznan)
Leandro (Ferencváros)
Pedrag Bosnjak (Haladás)

Midfielders:
Ákos Elek (Changchun Yatai)
Ádám Nagy (Ferencváros)
Bódi Ádám (Debreceni VSC)
Dániel Tőzsér (currently unattached)
Zoltán Gera (Ferencváros)
Zsolt Kalmár (RB Leipzig)

Forwards:
Zoltán Stieber (Hamburger SV)
Gergő Lovrencsics (Lech Poznan)
Nemanja Nikolic (Legia Warsawa)
Balázs Dzsudzsák (Bursaspor)
Krisztián Németh (Sporting Kansas City)
Ádám Szalai (Hoffenheim)
Tamás Priskin (Slovan Bratislava)

Photo: mlsz.hu