football

Sponsorship and naming rights: Football’s most lucrative stadium naming rights deals

bayern

Football, being one of the most expensive games in the world, thrives on sponsorship. Almost every aspect of football is monetized and yields massive annual returns.

Football clubs have gotten paid partnerships with different firms from different sectors, such as airline companies, betting organisations, food firms, etc. Betting organizations seem popular in football because of their pact with the sport and how many fans bet using various online sportsbook alongside other forms of gambling.

A different but not new kind of deal that is a reliable source of revenue for clubs is the sale of stadium naming rights.

What does stadium’s naming rights mean?

Naming rights are a monetary agreement between a club and a firm, individual, or other kinds of enterprise for the right to name their facility. The primary purpose of purchasing naming rights is to promote and publicize a business name or brand. A naming rights contract has a time frame which can end after expiration or be extended based on negotiation.

Examples of clubs with naming rights include: Atlético Madrid, Juventus, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, etc. Some clubs, especially popular clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, are yet to get naming rights for their stadiums, but they seem open to interested buyers.

Some clubs do not want their stadium names changed because they are perceived to hold so much history that fans cherish, whereas others are picky about the businesses to whom they sell their naming rights due to control and excessive advertising.

Sadly, some clubs, like Los Angeles FC of Major League Soccer, among others, lost their naming rights due to the financial strain the pandemic brought on their sponsors. However, this doesn’t deny the fact that selling naming rights to businesses and interested buyers is one of the fastest growing means of generating revenue for football clubs.

Who are the top earners from the sale of naming rights?

Here are the five top earners from naming rights in ascending order:

1. Besiktas

Turkish league club Besiktas unveiled their stadium in 2013. The stadium’s building estimate was around $120 million. They signed a massive deal worth $145 million for 10 years (that is till 2023 with a possible extension till 2028) with Vodafone, a mobile phone company.

The financial agreement covers their naming rights, advertisements on shirts, and stadium infrastructure. Besiktas earns about £6 million annually from the deal. The stadium is popularly known as Vodafone Park.

2. Bayern Munich

Allainz, a banking and finance firm, is known for its wide sponsorship of clubs. It is reported to be the name of about eight stadiums spanning four continents. These include German Giants, Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich earns approximately £6.4 million per year from its financial agreement with Allainz. The stadium has been renamed Allainz Arena since 2006.

3. Fenerbahce

Fenerbahce signed a £7 million deal with the food company Ulker for their naming rights. However, the stadium’s name isn’t known after Ulker. It is called Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, which is in honour of the former president of the club. His history as the owner of the club since 1933 led to the naming of the stadium after him.

Fenerbahce is the first team in the Turkish league to own their stadium. It can still be referred to as the Ulker stadium.

4. Atletico Madrid

The Spanish team, Atlético Madrid, has some history with stadiums. They left their former stadium, Vicente Calderon, in 2017 for a new stadium, Metropolitano Stadium.

Wanda, an information technology company in China, bought some 20% of the shares of the club that permitted it to use the naming rights to its training ground, with an extension to the stadium too. Although the terms with the company state the name “Metropolitano” remains because of the club’s first stadium.

The technology company pays £8.4 million annually to the club for its naming rights.

5. Manchester City

Winners of four league titles in the past decade, Manchester City has the biggest take home from sponsorship deals. This deal had a lot of agitation but it still thrived.

Manchester City had a full sponsorship deal with Etihad, an airline company. This deal was worth £400m over a time frame of ten years, with renewal options available. This deal covers the naming rights of the stadium, shirt advertisements, etc.

The deal is expected to end soon, but a renewal seems very likely. Manchester City is presently the highest-earning club from a naming rights deal.

UEFA fines Hungary for fan vandalism!

Football fans

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has fined Hungarian club Ferencváros for disruption caused by its fans at a Champions’ League qualifier against Slovan Bratislava in July in Bratislava, the organisation said on its website.

The fine was levied for the fans’ racist behaviour, the use of rockets and fireworks, for throwing various objects on the pitch, vandalism and provocative rhymes, as well as for blocking the passageways of the stadium, UEFA said.

Ferencváros will also have to close a 1,000-seater section of its stadium from the public at its next home match, and display an anti-racist banner there, the organisation said.

Featured image: illustration

Hungarian football fans
Read alsoVIDEO: Hungarian football fans sang about “Jewish crime” in stadium

VIDEO: Hungarian football fans sang about “Jewish crime” in stadium

Hungarian football fans

Some radical football fans sang about so-called “Jewish crime” in Szeged stadium. The Southern Hungarian city’s club played with MTK Budapest. MTK is traditionally regarded in the Hungarian football world as “the Jewish team”. Read about what happened below.

The Jewish football club of Hungary?

1888 is the foundation date of the MTK, Wikipedia writes. The reason was that some young athletes of Jewish origins could not compete in the aristocratic and Christian Magyar Athletikai Club then. Therefore, they founded the “Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre” (MTK). 

Interestingly, every word was Hungarian in the name of their club, which was rare those days. That is because they wanted to emphasize their distance from the Jewish community of Budapest. A further example of that pursuit was when the club transformed into Hungária FC in 1926. Wikipédia says that the MTK has been open to everybody and widely regarded as a democratic and cosmopolitan club.

A scandal broke out after MTK’s match with the Szeged-Csanád Grosics Akadémia on Monday evening. Some radical and antisemitic football fans started chants about so-called “Jewish crime” after the final whistle, telex.hu reported. MTK reported the sorrowful events to the police.

12-year-old girl recorded everything

Rabbi Zoltán Radnóti wrote about what happened on his Facebook page first. He said that his 12-year-old daughter recorded the chanting with her phone while leaving the stadium. She did not dare to take a video of the fans, but she did record their voice.

The football team of the MTK regards as unacceptable all antisemitic or racist acts, fearmongering or hate speech against any minorities, they said in a statement. “We protest against the antisemitic behaviour of the Szeged fans concerned, who chanted some unacceptable rhymes even during the match”, they added. “We stand for our fans offended and threatened during the match. We ask all our benevolent compatriots for solidarity in the name of the MTK family”, they concluded.

The club asked Szeged to challenge their fans to avoid such scandals happen in the future.

Here is the video recorded by the 12-year-old MTK fan about what happened:

Featured image: illustration

Real Madrid’s star striker to be the face of Hungarian BioTechUSA!

Rodrygo BioTechUSA brand ambassador

Real Madrid striker Rodrygo Silva De Goes, who is also a member of the Brazilian national team, will be BioTechUSA’s brand ambassador.

A Hungarian company that conquers the world

You may not know, but BioTechUSA is a Hungarian-owned and Hungary-based company. Europe’s largest dietary manufacturer and distributor of dietary supplements and special foods was originally an American company, but the Lévai family bought it and finally opened their factory in Szada. CEO Bálint Lévai said then that they preserved the name because it refers to the American roots of the company, and the USA is still the centre of bodybuilding. It bought another Hungarian-founded food supplement producing company, Scitec Nutrition, in 2020.

24.hu said that the newest milestone of BioTechUSA’s global expansion is that their face will be a Brazilian striker, a talent recently discovered by Real Madrid, Rodrygo Silva De Goes. The 21-year-old football player will be one of the dietary supplement producer’s brand ambassadors.

“Dietary supplements play a key role in this high-intensity sport. I trust BioTechUSA’s quality products will help me along the way and hope with BioTechUSA we can inspire millions of people to change their lifestyle and help them to achieve their goals”, he said on his Instagram.

Talented Brazlian to be the face of BioTechUSA

Rodrygo has been a striker in Real Madrid since 2019 and has a contract with the Spanish football team until 2025. He was the second youngest goal scorer of the club in the Champions League. Furthermore, he became the swiftest one, scoring two goals in one match. Moreover, he became the second youngest player in the tournament, preceded only by Wayne Rooney doing a hattrick. Rodrygo is very active on social media. For example, he has more than 7 million followers on Instagram.

BioTechUSA’s motto is The Feeling of Success. Therefore, they have been producing quality dietary supplements and special foods for 20 years. Their products are universal and gender neutral, helping all their customers to become better. One of their faces is Hungarian football player Attila Szalai, but they cooperate with multiple influencers and top athletes. They have 90 brand ambassadors, and that team will include Rodrygo.

Hungarians dominate the dietary supplement market

Based on the contract, he will display BioTechUSA’s products on his social media platforms and give his face to the company.

CEO Bálint Lévai said they were happy and proud that the Brazilian striker joined their team. He added that Rodrygo’s career is an example of how somebody can get to one of the top clubs in the world, like one can build a world brand from a small, Eastern European country.

BioTechUSA is in 100 countries, cooperating with 24 webshops and 4,500 partners. It has three brands: the Builder, the VitaminShop and Scitec Nutrition. It has more than 1,600 products helping people in multiple activities: from losing weight to becoming professional bodybuilders.

 
 
 
 
 
A bejegyzés megtekintése az Instagramon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Rodrygo Goes – RG ⚡️🇧🇷 (@rodrygogoes) által megosztott bejegyzés

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Read alsoVideo: Azerbaijani football player collapsed in Székesfehérvár

“Attila the Hun was gay” – Slovak football fans greeted the Hungarians

bratislava banner football

“Attila the Hun was gay” was the banner that Slovan Bratislava fans held for Ferencváros fans arriving from Hungary, according to a picture posted on the Slovan fans’ Facebook page.

A banner on an access road to Bratislava reads “Attila the hun was gay” in English. The picture was spotted by Hungarian sports news portal Nemzeti Sport on the Slovak ultras’ Facebook page.

The return match between Slovan and Ferencváros in Bratislava started at 8.30 PM on Wednesday, with Hungarian fans travelling to the Slovakian capital by private train.

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Read alsoA pro-Russian who gives advice to the Hungarian government for billions

Romanian billionaire says he would punch PM Orbán in the head – VIDEO

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“If Orbán dares to do something, I will hit him in the head” – Gigi Becali, a Romanian billionaire, said at a press conference this week. Mr Becali is the owner of the FC Steaua București, the Romanian capital’s emblematic football team. Steaua won the UEFA Champions League in 1986. It was the first Eastern European team to do so. At the press conference, he slammed PM Viktor Orbán and the Sepsi OSK, a football team based in Szeklerland’s “capital” Sepsiszentgyörgy. The team’s players are mostly Hungarians.

Controversial property exchange business

According to mandiner.hu, the Romanian billionaire was quoted to say that they held Sepsi “under the guillotine. If I see that the Sepsi OSK is getting stronger, I invest ten million euros” – Becali added. The Romanian businessman acquired his first millions of dollars from a controversial real estate exchange with the Romanian Army in the 1990s. 

The deal consisted of Becali giving the army a 21.5-hectare plot in Ștefăneștii de Jos (about 15 km from Bucharest) in exchange for a 20.9-hectare plot in Băneasa-Pipera, in Northern Bucharest. As the real estate prices skyrocketed in the capital, he sold the land to some companies that built residential areas – Wikipedia writes. With his money, he acquired 51% of the shares of FC Steaua București in 2003.

Sepsi OSK: a Hungarian team?

According to Főtér.ro, the former shepherd and MEP invited the press to his palace to announce the Steaua’s new coach, Nicolae Dică. Furthermore, he slammed the Sepsi OSK, which he thinks is supported by the Hungarian government. By the way, PM Viktor Orbán watched the team’s match with NK Olimpija Ljubljana last week before his speech in Tusványos. The duel’s stake was to advance into the UEFA Europa Conference League, and the Sepsi OSK won 3-1.

The Sepsi OSK is regarded as Hungarian since most of its players are Hungarians. Moreover, its base is in Sepsiszentgyörgy, a city in Central Romania populated 77% by Hungarians. The team won the Romanian Cup and the Supercup this year.

“If Orbán dares to do anything, I will hit him in the head. Paff, down with Sepsi!”

Becali slammed Orbán and the football team hard at the press conference:

  •  If the Sepsi OSK advances to Liga 1, he will invest 10 million euros to stop further successes.
  • “I do not let the Hungarians go to the FCSB [Steaua Bucharest]. They will never play in a Romanian team.”
  • “If Orbán dares to do anything, I will hit him in the head. Paff, down with Sepsi!”
  • “We hold Sepsi under the guillotine. If I see that the Sepsi OSK gets stronger, I will invest 10 million euros.“
  • “We will destroy everything in connection with the Sepsi OSK. I will only invest money in football if Sepsi ascends. I will not let [them] win the Romanian championships.“
  • “We have to keep Orbán at the end of the line. I will only go to the tribune if the Sepsi OSK gets stronger with Orbán. I guarantee that the Sepsi OSK will not raise its head. If the Sepsi or the Csíkszereda [another Hungarian city and its football team in Central Romania] raised their heads, I would invest a lot of money.”

If you understand Romanian, you can listen to Becali’s press conference below:

Video: Azerbaijani football player collapsed in Székesfehérvár

hungary_football_player_azerbaijan_video

Fans of Fehérvár FC and the Azerbaijani Gabala witnessed terrif events on the two teams’ UEFA Europa Conference League match yesterday in Székesfehérvár. Check out the video below.

After a collision with a Fehérvár FC football player, the Azerbaijani Ilkin Qirtimov remained on the ground in the Mol Aréna Sóstó in Székesfehérvár, on a yesterday UEFA Europa Conference League match. He swallowed his tongue and started suffocating immediately. Fortunately, the Hungarian and Azerbaijani doctors and medical professionals could save his life thanks to their immediate intervention, m4sport.hu reported.

The Azerbaijani football player is better now. He did not lose consciousness and was transported to the hospital with a suspected concussion.

HERE you can watch the video about what happened.

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Read alsoVideo: Azerbaijani football player collapsed in Székesfehérvár

Football: Hungarians moved up three places in world rankings!

Hungary England triumph football

The Hungarian national team has improved three places to 37th in the International Football Federation (FIFA) world rankings. Brazil is still the leader of the rankings.

Compared to the last ranking, published at the end of March, the Hungarians were able to move up thanks to their victory over fifth-placed England as hosts and then guests in the June group stage of the Nations League, while they drew with Germany at the Puskás Arena, as 168.hu reports.

England retained their previous position, the Germans improved one place, while European champions Italy – who missed out on the World Cup – lost to Hungary and slipped back one place to seventh.

The only change in the podium was that the Argentinians, previously fourth, knocked the defending World Cup champions France down from third.

FIFA rankings right now:

  1. Brazil 1837,56 pont
  2. Belgium 1821,92
  3. Argentina 1770,65
  4. France 1764,85
  5. England 1737,46
  6. Spain 1716,93
  7. Italy 1713,86
  8. Netherlands 1679,41
  9. Portugal 1678,65
  10. Denmark 1665,47
  11. Germany 1658,96
  12. Mexico 1649,57
  13. Uruguay 1643,71
  14. USA 1635,01
  15. Croatia 1632,15

…37. Hungary 1486,76

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Read alsoWhat more do they want? Cereal and stuffed pasta tax in Hungary

Hungarian team wins – England outraged?

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Hungarian football team gained another amazing win this week against England. A British tabloid has started a “petition” to stop the English national team from playing against the Hungarians. Find out more about the above-mentioned, and what their national press had to say below.

Hungarians defeat England yet again

On Tuesday night, the Hungarian team won against the English national team, with no less than 4 goals scored by our team. The English team could not manage to score a single goal. England, silver medallists in the European Championship, have so far been very poor in the Nations League. Furthermore, the English press has been very vocal about their performance. The biggest newspapers in the country are not forgetting the great performance of the Hungarians.

A few weeks ago here in Hungary, the home team was able to win 1-0 against the English.

The BBC reports – “Hungary really beat England. It is the first time since 2014 that England has not won any of their four consecutive matches and it is worrying that their form and confidence are not back as the World Cup approaches. England was unable to do more than resign themselves to a humiliating and possibly devastating defeat, after which the fans not only booed but demanded the dismissal of Gareth Southgate. England must realise that Marco Rossi had built a versatile and hard-to-beat Hungarian team.”

“For the fourth time in eleven days, Southgate could not achieve victory. The Hungarians deservedly beat last summer’s European Championship finalists. England has not scored an action goal in four games and has not had such a long run in eight years.” – tells The Sun.

England’s “petition” against Hungarian team

It’s no wonder then that the British were scared, reports Blikk. They don’t seem to want to mince their words, at least one British tabloid, The Sun Football, has launched a “petition” in a post on Twitter to stop the English team from facing the Hungarian national team.

It’s a match that the English will certainly not forget for a while, but we will remember it forever. The Hungarian national team is getting stronger and playing better matches. In September, the Nations League will resume, where the team can show once again that Hungarian football did not end with the Golden Team.

“Racist bastards” – chanted English fans during Hungary’s anthem

Hungary-England-football-victory

The UEFA Nations League did not start off peacefully between England and Hungary and things only got worse. “You racist bastards, we know what you are.” – chanted English fans during the Hungarian national anthem according to Guardian. 

The English regularly whistled during the opponent’s anthem, which was a response to the fact that some of the Hungarian fans previously booed the English anti-racist gesture, the kneeling, before the match between the two teams. – reports 444.hu. Yesterday, English fans expressed their opinion by calling Hungarians racist during the national anthem.

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The national soccer team of Hungary. Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák

Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade since posted a video on Facebook, commenting: “The national anthem was also heard in Wolverhampton thanks to the best fan base in the world. And the English only show their true colours….”

The BBC’s reaction

The BBC did not leave this incident without comment. Alex Bysouth tweeted:

“That anthem was something – Wolverhampton certainly keen to make the most of hosting international football. They also weren’t afraid to voice their opinion during the Hungarian anthem.”

He added: “Hungary had a three-game stadium closure – one suspended – for racist and homophobic behaviour by fans during Euro 2020, and the sentiment of the England fans’ chant was that the visiting supporters “know what they are…”.”

Hungary's population
Read alsoHungarian children booed England’s kneeling soccer team! – VIDEO

The antecedent

Let us have a look at why English fans felt the need to rudely interrupt the Hungarian anthem. Hungary has had a couple of previous incidents that led to yesterday’s chanting and booing

In the World Cup qualifiers, which –  ironically – ended with a 4-0 English victory, the kneeling English players were booed by Hungarians. In addition, Raheem Sterling, who scored the Hungarian goal, received racist insults from the stands.

Both the players and the English press described the mood of the match as hostile. After this, Hungarian adult fans were banned from the first match against England in the Nations League.

Although the majority of the stadium was filled with Hungarian children, they did not prove to be too well mannered either. When members of the English national team, as usual, knelt before the kick-off expressing their protest against racism, Hungarian children whistled.

In yesterday’s match, however, no loud booing could be heard from Hungarian supporters.

Hungary-England-football-victory
Read alsoHistoric victory: Hungary defeated England 4-0 in England! – PHOTOS

This is how Hungary knocked England out in Wolverhampton – VIDEOS

Hungary England triumph football

Roland Sallai scored twice as our men’s national team thrashed European Championship finalists England 4-0 in the Nations League in Wolverhampton on Tuesday night.

A scarcely believable result began to take shape in the 16th minute when Ádám Lang nodded down a deep cross and Sallai crashed a volley high inside England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale’s right post to hand the visitors an early lead.

Hungary dealt well with everything England threw at them for the next 54 minutes, their most dangerous moment coming nine minutes before half-time when goalkeeper Dénes Dibusz had to make an outstanding save from his own player Willi Orbán’s inadvertent header at goal.

Sallai then doubled his team’s advantage via a swift counter-attack, substitute Martin Ádám slipping the ball through to the Freiburg forward surging into England penalty are, who finished expertly first-time under Ramsdale with his right foot.

This was already the stuff of dreams for Marco Rossi’s side, but incredibly there was more, much more to come. Firstly, after England’s Harry Kane had hit the crossbar with a looping header, Ádám was first to fellow replacement Loic Nego’s deflected downward header and when he set up Zsolt Nagy for a shot, the Puskás Akadémia wingback unleashed a low, rasping drive which arrowed past Ramsdale and into the very left side of the England goal.

Two minutes later and a second yellow card for England defender John Stones left Hungary facing just ten men and in the 89th minute two of their substitutes took full advantage, Ádám Nagy releasing Dániel Gazdag with a sweet through pass which the latter pounced upon before dinking the ball left-footed past a befuddled Ramsdale and into the right corner of the England net.

That sealed a sensational 4-0 victory for Hungary, who inflicted

England’s worst home defeat in 94 years

upon them, eclipsing even the famous Magical Magyars’ 6-3 success in 1953 in terms of margin of victory. Indeed, that achievement by Ferenc Puskás’ Golden Team was Hungary’s only win away in England ever. Until now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLusnvEH9-k

More good news soon arrived with the headline that Germany had defeated Italy 5-2 in the group’s other game, meaning that Hungary will look forward to September’s final two group-stage fixtures knowing that they top the group on seven points from four matches, one point ahead of Germany whom they face away on 23rd September and a further point clear of third-placed Italy, against whom they close this Nations League top-tier campaign on 26th September.

England 0-4 Hungary (HT 0-1)
Goalscorers: Sallai (16, 70), Zs. Nagy (80) Gazdag (89).

England: Ramsdale; James, Guéhi, Stones, Walker; Gallagher (Mount 56), Phillips, Bellingham (Foden 68); Saka (Maguire 85), Kane, Bowen (Sterling 46)

Hungary: Dibusz; Lang, Orbán, At. Szalai; Fiola, Schäfer, Styles (A Nagy 55), Zs Nagy; Szoboszlai (Gazdag 55), Sallai (Négo 78); Ad. Szalai (Ádám 68).


Here is an instant fan reaction from Wolverhampton:

Hungary-England-football-victory
Read alsoHistoric victory: Hungary defeated England 4-0 in England! – PHOTOS

Top 5 best Hungarian footballers

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Football is one of the most popular sports in Hungary, with lots of Hungarians going to football matches, and placing bets on the winning team. Since the Golden Era for Hungarian football of the 1930s-1950s, the national team fans had to wait a long time for their historic victory over England in its fourth match in the 4th round of the UEFA Nations League. What are the five best Hungarian footballers who could follow in Ferenc Puskas’s footsteps?

1. Dominik Szoboszlai

This 21-year-old midfielder had his debut in 2019, and since then he has been present in the national team. He won the Austrian Bundesliga title with his club, and thanks to his outstanding performances, he became the most expensive Hungarian player, with a transfer fee of €20 million from Red Bull Salzburg to RB Liepzig. .

2. Roland Sallai 

This 25-year-old right winger scored two goals at the historic match with England in the 2022 UEFA Nations League.  He made his debut at the age of 17. He was part of the Hungarian U-20 team at the 2015 FIFA World Cup, and scored his first goal for the national team in 2018. He played  for the national team more than 20 times. In 2018 Sallai signed a deal with SC Freiburg for a €4.5 million fee.

3. Peter Gulácsi 

This 32-year-old experienced goalkeeper, debuted in 2014, and has played over 40 matches in the national team since then. At the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, he saved three penalties in the match between Hungary and Costa Rica, giving his team bronze medals. In 2010 he was the substitute goalkeeper UEFA Europa League in the Liverpool team. Since 2015 he has been playing for RB Leipzig.

4. Vilmos Tamas Orban

Willi, a 29-year-old centre-back with German and Polish roots, made his UEFA Nations League debut when Hungary defeated Greece in 2018. After successful appearances in Germany’s U21 team, his career with the Hungarian national team began. He has played for the national team almost 30 times.

5. Ádám Nagy

Born in 1995 defensive midfield player, was part of the Hungary U-20 team in 2015, the same year he started his career in the Hungary National team in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifications. Since 2016, a player in Serie A, in 2021 he signed a contract with Serie B club Pisa.

During the 1950s, the Hungarian National Team was one of the greatest in the world, surprising many by losing a game against Germany in the 1954 World Cup. Even though these stars aren’t likely to win a World Cup, they are some promising prospects for the future. If you are interested in the transfers of these players let’s take a look at some bonus offers. 

Historic victory: Hungary defeated England 4-0 in England! – PHOTOS

Hungary-England-football-victory

The Hungarian soccer team defeated the English national team in Wolverhampton, England. That is the first time a Hungarian team was able to defeat England on home soil after Puskás’s Golden Team in 1953 in the Match of the Century (3-6) in the Wembley, London.

Hungary defeated England in its fourth match in the 4th round of the UEFA Nations League. Marco Rossi’s team scored four goals: Roland Sallai in the 16th and the 70th minute, Zsolt Nagy in the 80th and Dániel Gazdag in the 89th minute. Meanwhile, England could not threaten Hungary’s goal.

The result means that Hungary leads its group in the UEFA Nations League with 7 points.

After Germany’s victory over Italy (5-2), the Nationalelf is in second place with 6 points. Italy is third with 5 points, while England stands in the last position with only 2 points.

Hungary-England-football-victory
The national soccer team of Hungary. Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák

Marco Rossi’s team defeated England in Budapest but suffered a defeat (2-1) in Cesena against Italy in a balanced match last week. Last Saturday, Hungary played 1-1 with Germany in Budapest.

The last time Hungary was able to defeat England on home soil was in 1953 when Puskás’s Golden Team defeated them 3-6 in the Wembley. However, now the goal difference is higher.

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Hungary supporters in Wolverhampton. Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák
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Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák
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Dániel Gazdag after scoring the fourth goal. Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák

This is what Rossi said to the team after the German match

After the victory against England, Hungarians had another excellent performance in the Puskás Arena, this time against four-time World Cup winner Germany. Marco Rossi’s team took an eighth-minute lead through left wing-back Zsolt Nagy, only for the visitors to respond quickly. Thereafter though, it was Hungary who had any shots on target.

“The guys played very well, which wasn’t easy because the match sapped a lot of energy,”

Rossi commented after the final whistle. “We weren’t great in possession of the ball, but Italy played in a similar way against Germany. I’m happy with the result, but I wish we could have more possession of the ball because if the opponent has the ball, it can move our defence around a lot and well, we can have a very hard time. Germany played well, but we did well in stopping them from moving the ball between their defence and their midfielders, something which required a huge amount of work from the players involved.

I just want to congratulate the boys and the fans as well, because they were a great encouragement to the team yet again.

I’m happy with the boys’ performance and also that no opponent can be sure they’ll score against us. Years ago, the criticism of the team was that we couldn’t run, but now we’ve shown again that they can run and fight. That’s what I love about this team; they don’t give up and they fight all the way. Players, of course, need to keep evolving to compete with the biggest world stars in every match, so we need to get to that level but we’re on the right track.

We hope we can get a point from England too, and that will be our goal“.

Considering the result of this evening, we can say that the head coach was a bit pessimistic regarding the performance of the Hungarian team.

Hungary Germany football Budapest
Read alsoUEFA Nations League: Germany could not defeat Hungary – PHOTOS

UEFA Nations League: Germany could not defeat Hungary – PHOTOS

Hungary Germany football Budapest

Germany could not defeat Hungary in Budapest’s Puskás Stadium in the 3rd fixture of the UEFA Nations League’s group stage. England’s national team suffered a defeat last week there, the first in the past 60 years. Today’s match against the Nationalelf ended in a 1-1 draw even though everybody considered a German victory much more possible.

The Hungarian soccer team surprised everybody again except for its supporters. Germany could not defeat it in the Puskás Stadium where the home team played nicely against the Nationalelf. The two goals came early:

Zsolt Nagy scored the first in the 6th minute.

Unfortunately, the team and the supporters could not enjoy the lead for long: Germany equalised in the 9th minute with Jonas Hofman’s goal.

Hungary supporters. Photo: MTI/Tibor Illyés
Ádám Szalai and Nico Schlotterbeck. Photo: Tibor Illyés

Currently, the Hungarian team stands in second place in its group with four points. The group also included the European champion Italy and the silver medalist England. Szoboszlai’s team defeated England last week in Budapest but suffered a defeat (2-1) in Cesena against Italy in a balanced match this week.

The next duel awaits the Hungarian team in England on June 14, next Tuesday.

Photo: MTI/Tibor Illyés
Styles Callum (b) and Willi Orbán. Photo: MTI/Tamás Kovács

Hungary’s head coach: Germany will be toughest June opponents

Hungary’s head coach, Marco Rossi, said before the match that Germany would be the toughest of all his team’s Nations League opponents this month. He emphasised that only a disciplined, organised game can be used to compete against the world’s leading opponents, following and following tactical instructions.

“We had little time to prepare in addition to regeneration, but we’ve tried our best to prepare tactically for Germany,”

Rossi said to the waiting cameras.

Against England, we produced the best performance since I’ve been sitting on the national team’s bench.

Photo: MTI/Tamás Kovács
Hungary supporters before the match in Budapest. Photo: MTI/Tamás Kovács

Against the Italians, several mistakes slipped into our game, and against a rival of this strength, even the slightest mistake will often have to pay an expensive price. I’m satisfied that in the previous matches we didn’t allow much space for the opponent and that the players followed the instructions.

We played football in an organised way, which is the only way to compete with rivals of this strength. It is important that everyone keeps their feet on the ground and

maintains realistic expectations of the team.”

It seems the team could carry out the head coach’s instructions.

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Heightened security measures await Hungary fans in Italy

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Hungary is to meet the UEFA European Championships title holder, Italy, in its next Nations League match. The venue will be Cesena, a city not far from San Marino, which counts around 100,000 residents. Last Saturday, Hungary defeated England 1-0 with a penalty kick in Budapest.

Heightened security awaits Hungarian fans

According to hvg.hu, Hungary will meet Italy on Tuesday in Cesena, where there will be 300 police officers on duty during the match. The duel is scheduled to start at 8.45 pm. The Italian Corriere di Bologna reported about the heightened security measures of the local police.

The Italian media outlet wrote that the Hungarian fans’ reputation precedes them. Their violent, sometimes racist and homophobic behaviour is well-known to the police all over Europe, Corriere di Bologna said. That is why the Hungarian Football Association received a three-match stadium ban.

No take-away purchase for Hungarian fans

In Cesena, there will be 300 police officers taking care of public orders and security. They expect 1,500 Hungarian supporters for whom they appoint a designated fan zone in the city park, accessible between 11 am and 7 pm. Moreover, the local government prohibited the sale of bottled drinks and take-away orders on Tuesday in the shops and restaurants.

 

As we reported earlier, the European Football Association (UEFA) originally imposed three closed-door penalties on the Hungarian national team due to their supporters’ discriminatory behaviour during EURO 2920. However, the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) turned the UEFA disciplinary regulations to its advantage, as article 73 makes an exemption in the case of children under age 14 accompanied by their guardians. The federation took the opportunity and invited 30,000 children, free of charge, who later verbally expressed their disdain towards England while the foreign team took a knee.

According to BBC, this is a critical blind spot in UEFA’s regulations. The closed-door penalty should have been a deterrent, instead, the Hungarian team was allowed to play in a festive atmosphere.

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Hungary defeats England in Nations League! – PHOTOS

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Hungary defeated England in the UEFA Nations League in Budapest with Dominik Szoboszlai’s penalty. The final result was 1-0, so Hungary started the tournament with an unexpected victory. The last time Hungary could defeat England on a non-friendly match was in 1962. Congratulations to the national team!

According to infostart.hu, more than 30 thousand children cheered for the Hungarian team today in the Puskás Aréna, Budapest. Interestingly, the Hungarian Football Association (MLSZ) was hit with a five-match supporter ban because of racist abuse during last year’s European Championship. However, the MLSZ found a loophole in the UEFA rules allowing children under 14 to enter the stadium. That is what happened today in the Puskás Aréna and, surprisingly, the English national team was booed by the kids (and their parents) when they took the knee at the beginning of the match.

This was the first match for Hungary in the 3rd Nations League. In the 2018-2019 and 2021-2022 UEFA Nations League, the Hungarian team could not advance from its group.

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Photo: MTI/Zsolt Szigetváry
Hungary-England-football-match-Budapest.
Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák
Hungary-England-football-match-Budapest.
Photo: MTI/Zsolt Szigetváry

The two teams:

  • Hungary’s starting line-up: Gulácsi – Lang, W. Orbán, Szalai A. – Nego, Nagy Á., Schäfer, Nagy Zs. – Sallai R., Szoboszlai – Szalai Á.
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The Hungarian national team defeating England today. Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák
  • England’s starting line-up: Pickford – K. Walker, Maguire, Coady – Alexander-Arnold, Rice, Bellingham, Justin – Bowen, Kane, Mount.

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On a yesterday press conference Hungary defender Ádám Lang spoke of, amongst other things, the national team having made progress in the recent past and the players wanting to maintain the organised, stable defence which now characterises the team, while also keeping the ball more.

“We want to prove we’ve evolved. Everyone is looking forward to the next match – it will be a serious challenge, but it’s good to play against such opponents!

We can test ourselves; I think that’s how everyone in the team thinks. I feel good and it’s always a pleasure to join up with the national team. The mood is good, but there’s not been any problem with this in the last few years, and this is essential for us to be able to perform well on the pitch in all four Nations League matches“, Lang concluded.

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Orbán to travel to Brussels from Paris

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Prime Minister Viktor Orbán attended the Champions League final in Paris at the invitation of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) on Saturday evening and he will travel on to Brussels from the French capital, Orbán’s press chief said on Sunday.

The European Council is holding an extraordinary meeting in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday where the heads of state and government will discuss, among others, the war in Ukraine, the serious economic crisis that results from it and the security of energy supplies, Bertalan Havasi told MTI.

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The favourites for the PFA Young Player of the Year award

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As we enter the month of May, the 2021-22 Premier League season is edging ever closer to its thrilling conclusion — with just a handful of games left to decide who will be crowned champions out of Liverpool and Manchester City, who will secure the European spots and even who will become the third team to be relegated as Everton and Burnley lock horns in a nail-biting scrap for survival.

But once all that is decided, and the dust settles on another fantastic season of top-flight football the Premier League betting pages refresh ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, which will be somewhat stop-start due to the winter World Cup in Qatar, it will be time of the PFA Awards — showing recognition to best players and coaches the league has to offer.

The Young Player of the Season award, which is for players aged 21 or under prior to the start of the recent campaign, is one of the most prestigious accolades available — with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale all on the list of previous recipients.

That said, let’s take a look at the favourites to win this season’s renewal of the award. Read on to find out more!

Phil Foden – Manchester City

Dual winner of both the Premier League Young Player of the Season and PFA Young Player of the Year in 2021, Manchester City’s Phil Foden is the heavy favourite to defend his title at next month’s award ceremony — and if Pep Guardiola’s men can pip the Reds to league, then there will surely only be one winner.

Only Ryan Giggs, Robbie Fowler, Rooney and Dele Alli have won the award in successive years since it was formed in the 1973-74 campaign, but with eight goals and five assists to his name in 25 Premier League appearances for this season and his sights on the title, Foden could be about to a fifth name to the list of double winners.

Bukayo Saka – Arsenal

A nominee for the PFA Young Player of the Year award last year, Bukayo Saka looks set to go up against his England teammate again this year and the 20-year-old’s odds of winning the personal accolade have been massively slashed after his recent performances — most notably against Chelsea and Manchester United.

The versatile Arsenal winger would be a deserved winner as well, arguably more so than Foden, having bagged 11 goals and six assists for the Gunners so far this season. And if he can help the north London side secure fourth, earning them Champions League football for the first time in five years, he could take home the award.

Conor Gallagher – Crystal Palace (on loan from Chelsea)

Another fully fledged Three Lion who looks set for a PFA Young Player of the Year nomination, Conor Gallagher has really impressed during his loan spell at Crystal Palace from their cross-city rivals Chelsea this season.

The now 22-year-old first rose to prominence at West Bromwich Albion last year, but despite earning prise for his performances at the Hawthorns, he couldn’t keep the Baggies afloat. He’s been much for effective at Selhurst Park this year though, scoring eight time and assisting three in 30 Premier League appearances, and it will be interesting to see if his future lies at Stamford Bridge or Palace do indeed make the move permanent next summer.