On their home field, in front of a full house, the Dominikés of Szoboszlai played as sure participants in the European Championship, who fought heroically in the pouring rain and won their European Championship qualifying group undefeated.
Thanks to the great second-half play of the Hungarian national football team, they overcame a deficit and beat Montenegro 3-1 at the end of the match, thus qualifying for the European Championship as group leader. Dominik Szoboszlai doubled in one minute, and in extra time, the rebound after his free kick was sold by Ádám Nagy.
We were prepared for a relaxed but high-stakes match
With the last-minute save in Bulgaria, the Hungarian national team made it certain that it will qualify for the third European Championship in a row, so Marco Rossi's boys could prepare for a relaxed match.
It was released, but by no means completely without stakes, since in the case of a group first (for which avoiding defeat at the end would have been enough), ours could have been in the second hat in the European draw.
The captain of the national team himself emphasized that the team's goal is to achieve this, and he emphasized that for the fans who support the team so well, a victory would be a really nice way to celebrate, so they will do everything for this - and of course to close for the first time since 1976 undefeated for an entire calendar year. Despite the Hungarian superiority, one chance was enough for the opponent.
In response to our question, the Italian specialist already indicated at the Saturday press conference that three or four changes are expected compared to the Bulgarian starting team, and one of them was considered fixed due to the suspension of Milos Kerkez.
Marco Rossi ended up making four changes from the Sofia team and the
Dibusz – Balogh B., Lang, Szalai A. – Bolla, Á. Nagy, Styles, Zs. Nagy – Szoboszlai, Gazdag – Ádám
voted confidence in the starting eleven.
Right at the beginning of the match, the guests threatened through Veszovics, and then Dibus had to clear it by running out of the goal from Oszmajics, but apart from that, the first quarter of an hour was filled with Hungarian dominance and plenty of passes from the wing and spot kicks - among them, Balogh's header over Botond could be noted as a chance.
The game took place in a similar way, with so many changes that the visitors did not even have a chance from the curved balls, while ours went forward steadfastly, but without real breakthrough power.
And just as three days earlier in Bulgaria, this time too our opponent took the lead with the first meaningful shot:
after a Montenegrin free kick, the defense couldn't clear it in two attempts, and Rubezsics stuck Jovetics' ball in the middle into our net (0-1).
Our team could have responded immediately, but after Szoboszlai's umpteenth point kick (this time from a corner on the left side), Bolla Bendegúz's excellent shot bounced off a defender's head and into the corner, and then the defenders jumped into Zsolt Nagy's shot, before the fireworks ended, Ádám Martin and Dániel Gazdag missed their chances, thus, the teams could go to rest with a Montenegrin advantage.
In the first half, the Hungarian national team possessed 63 percent of the ball, the number of shots was 8-2, the number of attacks was 25-7, the number of passes was 297-140, the number of fouls was 3-8, but in terms of goals, unfortunately, it was still 0-1 the scoreboard showed.
The Szoboszlai gala and the Dibusz show have started - we made it to the European Championship as group leader!
Marco Rossi tried to shake up his team with a double substitution, Zsolt Kalmár and Loic Nego arrived, which made the team even more attacking, and we also tried the latter's header, without much success.
Meanwhile, the Montenegrin goalkeeper had to be looked after every half minute, and a visiting player was left down in the pouring rain, so the game became particularly drawn out.
Mijatovics couldn't continue, but the Bulgarians equalized in Serbia, so suddenly we were at the top of the group after an hour of play.
That's why the national team went forward, and substitute Djukics had to save Ádám Martin's 16-meter shot, but it didn't cause any problems.
Krisztofer Horváth also came to the field for us, but again it was Dominik Szoboszlai who took the national team on his back: he tricked himself into the game with a similarly great solo as in Bulgaria, but this time the finish was also accurate (1-1).
And when a business starts!
A minute later, after Ádám Martin's finish, Szoboszlai was again in the ball, the goalkeeper was still able to get in, but he could no longer save (2-1).
At the break, the Montenegrins woke up, and Dibusz had to show a feat when Oszmajic's jump and Jovetics' shot, but he did it!
That the Ferencváros goalkeeper parries another series of shots, thus presenting one of the greatest matches of his life!
And to make the Hungarian holiday perfect, in the extra time, Szoboszlai's free kick was saved by the goalkeeper, but Ádám Nagy shot the rebound into the net (3–1)!
With this, the Hungarian national team won the first place in the group and to be placed in the second hat in the draw on December 2. and, for the first time since 1976, we completed an entire calendar year without defeat.
Featured image: Goal scorer Dominik Szoboszlai (b3) is congratulated by his teammates during the match between Hungary and Montenegro in Group G of the tenth and final round of the European Football Championship qualifiers at the Puskás Arena in Budapest on November 19, 2023. MTI/Tamás Kovács
