What the world press writes about Hungary’s victory against Austria at Euro2016

It’s probably no exaggeration to say that yesterday all Hungarians cheered for our national football team as one person. For those who haven’t heard, Hungary beat Austria by 2:0 in the first round of Euro2016, which is an amazing success. People went mad from joy on the streets of Budapest as we all shouted ‘GOAAAL’. Who knew that the team would debut such greatly at the European Championships after 44 years. The community-forming power of cheering and football brought us all together, and we can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. For now, we collected what the international press wrote about the victory.

The tone of most articles could be described as surprised and shocked. ABC even titled their article ‘Hungary shocks Austria 2-0’ and went on with describing Szalai as nobody’s idea of a prolific scorer and his goal as a rare one. “Tamas Priskin, who had replaced scorer Szalai, sent Stieber racing through to grab the second goal in front of thousands of delighted Hungarians.” ABC also called the fans the “two of the noisiest sets of supporters yet seen at the tournament”.

The Telegraph wrote that “Hungary made a triumphant return to a major tournament” and described the goals like this: “Szalai fired Hungary ahead on 62 minutes” and “Stieber triggered delirious celebrations when he raced from just inside the Austria half to beat Almer three minutes from time with a sublime chip as Hungary completed a stunning upset for their first European Championship win since 1964”.

Eurosport also expressed their surprise by stating that “Hungary upset the form book to beat neighbours Austria 2-0 in their first European Championship match since 1972, kick starting their campaign with an impressive display.”

UEFA writes that this victory was not only vital for Hungary’s chances of qualifying for the Euro 2016 knockout phase, but it was also a moment of special joy for those victorious players who had a special point to prove following indifferent experiences at club and international levels recently (mainly referring to Ádám Szalai, who hasn’t been able to score a goal for Hungary since December 2014). The closing sentences of the summary are heart-warming: “Maybe this team of Magyars is mightier than they’ve been given credit for. Thankfully, after their superb hard-fought victory in Bordeaux, these untrumpeted stars may well earn more opportunities to impress the doubters.”