Only a few players remained from the starting lineup of Marco Rossi’s senior national team, and almost the entire squad was replaced within five years. In 2018, the Italian coach lined up his eleven against the Finns: Gulaxsi – Lovrensics, Lange, Kadar, Viola – Kovacs, Patkai, Kleinheisler – Stieber, Salai, Salai. Of them, only Adam Lange, Attila Viola and Roland Szallai played yesterday in Belgrade, as a Russian side defeated their biggest rivals 2-1 away from home in a European Championship qualifier.
Of course, Peter Gulacsi, Laszlo Kleinheisler, Denis Debush, Adam Nagy and Zsolt Kalmar have also remained permanent members of the national team since Rossi’s first roster. They were also in the 2018 squad in Finland, where Hungary lost 1-0 in Marco Rossi’s first UEFA Nations League match.
Borzaso then took on the difficult task of Rossi, who had been Donaszerdahelyi’s coach until then. After the dismissal of Bernd Stork a year ago, the Hungarian Football Association appointed Belgian George Leekens to lead the national team. Prepare the team for your league. However, under Leekins, the national team fell to a very low point, with three defeats and one draw in four matches, although the opponents were not particularly strong: Australia, Belarus, Scotland and Kazakhstan were the opponents.
Marco Rossi’s first match as coach of the Hungarian national team, a 1-0 loss to Finland:
On 9 June, Leekins captained the national team against the Australians, and after a 2–1 home defeat, MLS intervened and sent the Belgian away, then appointed Rossi, who had previously made up the NB I Championship side from Honved. If we look at our days, the situation the Hungarian national team was in in September 2018 was a nightmare. By then, European Championship success in 2016 was long overdue, and embarrassing defeats ushered in a Russian era.
Devastated Marco Rossi: The responsibility falls on me!
The first game hasn’t brought much change so far. Although the national team played second fiddle to Finland, they lost 1-0. Let’s add: since the Italian master did not have a single warm-up match, he had to immediately direct in a situation at stake.
Even then, Rossi evaluated me very honestly, did not look for excuses, and in addition to the results, it is perhaps his frank style that has made him so popular in recent years. We also had chances, but the main problem is that we did not hit the goal. Although we made some mistakes, we had possession of the ball all the time and we deserved a better result. I am responsible for the result – He said five years ago Russian.
How much has changed since then! Yesterday, the Hungarian national team was able to travel to Serbia without having to fear, even in front of the strongest competitor in its group in the European qualifiers on paper. He won the rally 2-1. A Russian team visited the European Championship, which was held in 2021, and last year it beat England twice and Germany once in the Stack match. This year, they have recorded four wins in five meetings, and the last time the national team lost to Italy was almost a year ago, in September last year.
Who would have thought this on September 8, 2018? no one. Maybe not even Marco Rossi himself.
Cover image: Marco Rossi has had exceptional success at the helm of the Hungarian national team (Photo: MTI/Zsolt Czeglédi)
