Tuesday's opponent of the Hungarian national football team, the German team, is the second best in Europe, so it will not experiment in the last round of the Nations League, announced the national team captain.

"It won't be an easy match, because the German team is perhaps the second best on the continent after the European champions Spain. In addition to the quality of his players, they also perform great as a team. Since the appointment of Julian Nagelsmann, harmony has been established immediately, so our rival has matured into a team belonging to the top of the world.

Our goal is to come off the field with our heads held high and finish with a good overall picture.

With this in mind, it is not advisable to experiment against Germany. He will be in the starting line-up who earned it during the year," said the Italian manager, who also has Hungarian citizenship, at his press conference on Monday, adding that Attila Fiola, who is returning after his suspension, will definitely play.

Rossi also spoke about track coach Ádám Szalai, he revealed that he is better, he is at home with his wife and little daughter, and the public will learn more about his condition when the former team captain deems it good.

"It was shocking for me, at first I didn't even notice what happened. Then I saw on the faces that the problem was serious. It was not easy to process. The players decided to continue, I think they did the right thing. They made the most of what was possible," the 60-year-old coach recalled the dramatic moments of the match in the Netherlands.

Rossi explained that the year 2024 was not positive for him, because it was not possible to cover the paper form, as they had previously exceeded expectations. Nevertheless, I want to end the year well.

"Barnabás Varga was tired, so we replaced him. Szabó performed more difficult in duels and possessions. In addition, he received a blow, so it is not certain that he will be able to play against the Germans," said Rossi about Levente Szabó, who will play as a rookie in Amsterdam. "By inviting him, we already expressed that we see potential in him, this is an honor. But I would also like to communicate that this is not a final destination, from here I expect three times as much work for development".

Rossi tried to clarify the situation of Kerkez Milos, who resigned from the national team due to injury. According to him, the Bournemouth player did not message him with the ice bath photo posted on social media, because then he would have called him.

"The player is always more important than the coach. They are the protagonists, it depends on them what kind of performance we provide. Kerkez is a national treasure, I just drew a conclusion. In the past, we have seen someone cancel the national team, just think of Péter Gulácsi. Kerkez has now similarly decided to focus on the interests of his club. That doesn't mean I don't have a conflict with Kerkez or Gulácsi," said Rossi.

On behalf of the players, Ádám Nagy spoke about how the paper format prevailed in the League of Nations, unlike previous years, it was not overturned this time.

"We have had a period of ups and downs, this year our form has declined a bit. It started in the game in Ireland in June, where our unbeaten streak was broken. We were also disappointed at the European Championship due to the early elimination, for which we are 80 percent responsible, because we could not fulfill the tactical expectations", said the Spezia midfielder, who said that due to the previous good results, the bar was raised higher and higher.

The 29-year-old footballer believed that Ádám Szalai's illness had influenced the match in the Netherlands willy-nilly, but they do not want to use the stories as an excuse for the four-goal defeat. He added that they are happy that Szalai is better, but he did not want to say more about his condition because the track coach asked them to.

"As a player, I live and die for the Hungarian national team. I accept and respect the captain's decision that he mainly counts on me as a substitute right now, but I don't care. I wouldn't achieve anything by sulking. In any case, it moves the national team forward if there is competition, because it encourages the athlete to do more. I would like for us to get to the World Cup with my help," said the 88-time national team player, who was recently replaced by Tamás Nikitscher in the starting lineup, in response to MTI's inquiry.

Ádám Nagy set the goal of correcting the "ugly" 5-0 defeat against the Germans in September. He reminded them that they came together against England earlier to improve after a heavy defeat.

At the whistle of the Croatian Duje Strukan, the Hungarian-German match will start on Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. in the packed Puskás Arena, which will be broadcast live by M4 Sport, Kossuth Rádió and Nemzeti Sportrádió. The Hungarians will surely finish in third place in the group, so next March they will be forced to a classifier with one of the runners-up in the B division.

MTI

Cover photo: Marco Rossi, captain of the Hungarian national team
Source: MTI/Tibor Illyés