On June 15, 2021, the Hungarian national team will begin playing against Portugal at the European Championship (EC) postponed from last year in the Puskás Arena in Budapest. Tuning in to the clash, we thought we recalled the duel five years ago, when on June 22, 2016, Hungary played a 3-3 draw with Portugal in the continental competition in France, thus finishing first in its group.
Bernd Storck's team took the lead three times, but the eventual winners Lusitanians managed to equalize all three times thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, saving their hopes of reaching the eighth finals. Balázs Dzudzsák doubled, Zoltán Gera and Ronaldo scored dream goals, the spectators in Lyon saw one of the best matches of the tournament.
The six-goal match played in front of more than 55,000 spectators was full of twists and turns: Hungary led three times and Portugal equalized three times.
The Hungarian fans cheered almost in a frenzy, as they knew that even in the worst case scenario, the national team could enter the knockout phase of the tournament by ranking among the best group thirds.
"One thing I remember, and I think I'll remember it even in my old age, is that when we got to the players' exit - freed, because we knew we could go on - after the referee's signal, we started out onto the field, the Portuguese national team captain pushed each player out with both hands. He tried to motivate them because he knew that if they lost, they would be eliminated"
- said Gergő Lovrencsics, player of the Hungarian national team, in M4 Sport's new self-produced film, Old Summer.
"The good thing about the whole thing was that we were finally the ones who could play freely, who could make things a little more difficult for others. We had no fear of what if we sold the ball. We went, we asked for it, we passed it on, we enjoyed it"
Krisztián Németh, the former striker of the national team, recalled the memories of the match in the Old Summer.
The Portuguese started the match more actively, but on the Hungarian side, the corners were dangerous. The first goal came from a corner kick. After the pass, Ronaldo headed the ball from three meters, Nani tried to head it from the penalty area, but it was short. Gera took it with his chest and, after a bounce, shot the ball into the left corner of the goal from eighteen meters away.
The Portuguese were somewhat confused, but pressed forward steadily, with little success. However, they managed to equalize in the 42nd minute, Ronaldo gave a great ball to Nani moving on the left side, who shot into the short bottom corner while Guzmics was in the grip. King could not defend.
The teams went to the break with a 1-1 draw. At the beginning of the second half, Szalai fought for a free kick 24 meters from the goal, which Balázs Dzudzsák would have twisted short, but the ball bounced on the shoulder of a Portuguese player and went defenseless into the middle of the goal. The Portuguese did not give up and equalized again a few minutes later. Joao Mario got a good start on the right side, passed it past Korhut, Lang tried to push out Ronaldo, who was bursting into the middle, who sent the ball to the right side of the goal with a beautiful movement with a corner. It was one of the most beautiful goals of the tournament, perhaps befitting the best match. Not long after, another turning point came, Szalai again fought for a free kick, which Dzúdzák completed. His ball got stuck in the row wall, but he got it again and shot it into the goal after a couple of pushes. The toy changed direction on Nani's leg and ended up in the Portuguese goal again.
"I almost drowned while celebrating my first goal. The boys on one side and the billboard on the other side knocked the air out of me, and with my second goal as I was running towards our fans, I slipped and badly scraped my knee, so yes, I had a bit of bad luck with both, but I think that's also part of the celebration "
- recalled Balázs Dzudzsák, the captain of the national team at the time.
The full article HERE .
Photo: MTI/EPA/CJ Gunther
