2023-11-17 15:45:43
The Hungarian national team has secured tickets for the 2024 European Championship finals in Germany. On Thursday evening, a 2-2 draw against Bulgaria in Sofia was enough for Marco Rossi’s team to achieve their big goal.
The signs were pointing to a storm, but actually this should have spared the Hungarians: Bulgaria’s association is in a bad tussle with its own ultras, which is why the appointment seemed extremely questionable until the end. No suitable venue was found, and the hosts also excluded spectators from the game for security reasons. A few days before the game, it couldn’t even be ruled out that the Hungarians would win 3-0 on the green table. But on Thursday both teams ended up playing in the traditional Levski Stadium in Sofia, while the Ultras fought their battle with the police outside.
Martin Ádám headed in the early lead. Photo: MTI/Tibor Illyés
It got really colorful
Hungary had easily won the first leg against the Bulgarian team, which was undergoing reconstruction, 3-0 and was also the clear favorite in the second leg. The men around Captain Dominik Szoboszlai threw themselves into the battle with corresponding vehemence. After just 10 minutes they were rewarded for their aggressive pressing. Szoboszlai won a free kick to the right of the penalty area, which he shot sharply into the middle. There, Martin Ádám headed in to make it 1-0 – participation in the European Championship finals came a lot closer.
Afterwards, the Hungarians repeatedly showed uncertainty, and Spas Delew was able to use the first real chance for Bulgaria to surprisingly equalize in the 24th minute. Then things got increasingly more colorful: In the 36th minute, the Polish referee sent the Bulgarian Valentin Antov to take a shower early with money red, only four minutes later Ilya Gruyev was supposed to follow him because of an emergency brake.
However, the referee reversed his decision with the help of the VAR evaluation and instead showed the Hungarian Endre Botka yellow. He had actually already broken through, but preferred to provoke with a swallow. Just four minutes later, the Hungarian left winger Milos Kerkez was also shown a yellow card after he tried to avoid a penalty with a dive. That should have fatal consequences.
Then there were only nine left
Because at the beginning of the second half, the impetuous Kerkez went into a duel so hard, also in the opponent’s penalty area, that the result was another yellow-red: The referee punished the Hungarian with his leg outstretched and sliding into his opponent. Now both teams played with only nine field players, the Hungarians remained dominant but failed to score.
The Bulgarians were different, whose captain Kiril Despodow started a slalom in the Hungarian penalty area and tripped over the leg of defender Attila Szalai. Here the referee gave the penalty that he had denied the Hungarians – Despodov coldly converted it to make it 2-1 in the 79th minute.
With this penalty goal, Bulgaria took a 2-1 lead. Photo: MTI/ Zsolt Szigetváry
The Hungarians now threw everything forward. Captain Szoboszlai failed with several free kicks and finally, after a solo, he was already standing free in front of the goalkeeper. But it was also Szoboszlai who hit the final cross into the penalty area in the 97th minute, which was undercut by the previously outstanding goalkeeper Daniel Naumow, while Alex Petkow, who jumped highest, nudged the ball into his own goal.
The compulsory event in Bulgaria is now followed by the free program in Hungary
“The last step is always the hardest,” said national coach Marco Rossi, commenting on the European Championship finals reached with a bang. But the main thing is that Hungary is now at the European Championships for the third time in a row, and for the first time it qualified directly from the group.
On Sunday from 3 p.m. the Hungarian national team will be able to compete against Montenegro in front of full stands in the Puskás Stadium. At best it’s about winning the group, but of course it’s also about honor.
Hungary’s national team is at the European Championship finals in Germany! Photo: MTI/Tibor Illyés
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