UEFA EURO 2016: Hungary team preview

Hungarians will be hopeful that their qualification for Euro 2016 is the start of a new dynasty after lacking any sort of international success since the Mighty Magyars, led brilliantly by Ferenc Puskas, achieved worldwide adulation in the 1950’s and 60’s. Of course no Hungarian side is ever likely to match the achievements of that ‘Golden Team’ but this qualification represents progress in Hungarian football.

The Hungarians finished third in Group F to reach the playoffs where they recorded an impressive 3-1 aggregate victory over favourites Norway to qualify for the finals alongside four other playoff winners.

EURO Squad 2016 (final 23 to be confirmed)

Goalkeepers: Gabor Kiraly (Haladas), Denes Dibusz (Ferencvaros), Peter Gulacsi (Leipzig), Balazs Megyeri (Getafe).

Defenders: Attila Fiola (Puskas Akademia), Gergo Lovrencsics (Lech Poznan), Barnabas Bese (MTK), Richard Guzmics (Wisla Krakow), Roland Juhasz (Videoton), Gergo Kocsis (Puskas Akademia), Adam Lang (Videoton), Adam Pinter (Ferencvaros), Zsolt Korcsmar (Vasas), Tamas Kadar (Lech Poznan), Mihaly Korhut (Debrecen).

Midfielders: Akos Elek (Diosgyori), Zoltan Gera (Ferencvaros), Adam Nagy (Ferencvaros), Mate Vida (Vasas), Laszlo Kleinheisler (Werder Bremen), Roland Sallai (Puskas Akademia).

Forwards: Balazs Dzsudzsak (Bursaspor), Zoltan Stieber (Nurnberg), Adam Gyurcso (Pogon), Adám Szalai (Hannover), Krisztian Nemeth (al-Gharafa), Nemanja Nikolic (Legia Warsaw), Tamas Priskin (Slovan Bratislava), Daniel Bode (Ferencvaros), Laszlo Lencse (Újpest).

Key Player: Balazs Dzsudzsak

The winger and captain has taken on the mantle from Zoltan Gera, who now operates in a deeper role, and is undoubtedly Hungary’s main man. Additionally, he has a decent scoring record of 18 in 77 caps – not bad for a so-called minor country of UEFA. Dzsudzsak is one of only a few players in the Hungary squad who plays his football in one of the bigger European leagues and Bernd Storck’s side rely heavily on the Bursaspor man to sprinkle a bit of magic onto the Nemzeti Tizenegy.

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Qualifying

Group Matches

Austria v Hungary – 14 June, 2016

Iceland v Hungary – 18 June, 2016

Hungary v Portugal – 22 June, 2016

Click here for the full Euro 2016 match schedule. 

Group F is arguably the easiest group in the tournament as it lacks any of the so-called big nations, although Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal are of course a threat to any side. The fact that Hungary are probably the worst team in this group says a lot about their lack of international pedigree in recent years.

Their qualifying group (also F) was similar as it didn’t contain any nation that you would consider likely to qualify from the group stage at a major finals. The fact they squeezed through that group in qualifying – via the playoffs – doesn’t bode well for this summer’s tournament where the matches will only get tougher.

Hungary had a fairly even record in qualifying, winning four, drawing four and losing two. They aren’t likely to be big scorers (just the 11 goals in 10 games in qualifying) and they will look to make the most of what is a fairly solid defence and then spring on the counter. However, against major opposition this tactic may only get them so far.

The general bets on Hungary do not represent great value as, for them to perform poorly overall, which is what many predict, doesn’t give any sort of appealing return. The best option is to look at specific games. In their qualification campaign, Hungary (as expected with a counter attacking team) scored most of their goals in the second half. They face Austria in their first group game at these finals, and are likely to see less of the ball. With this in mind, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Hungarians were to repeat their seemingly favourite move of scoring on the counter in the second half of a game. At odds of 8/5 Hungary to score in the second half against Austria on match-day one looks a good bet.