Nemeth: We're full of hope - HUNGARY
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| AFP |
Sunday 15 November 2015 was an historic day for Hungarian football, the day the national team sealed their return to the UEFA EURO finals after a 44-year absence, and for only the third time ever, courtesy of their play-off defeat of Norway.
Forward Krisztian Nemeth contributed two goals to Hungary’s successful qualifying campaign, and is now looking to fire their quest for glory at EURO 2016, which begins in France in three weeks’ time. Bernd Storck’s charges have a tough assignment ahead of them, however, having been drawn in Group F alongside Portugal, Iceland and Austria.
The 27-year-old, who signed in January for Qatari club Al Gharrafa, spoke to FIFA.com about his hopes for the national team and his belief that they can continue to bring a smile to the faces of Hungary fans. “We are really up for this and the whole country is behind us,” said Nemeth. “The EURO is an important event for us because it’s been a long time since we last took part in one. We need to get our preparations just right.”
The former Sporting Kansas City frontman then cast his mind back to the celebrations that followed Hungary’s 2-1 defeat of the Norwegians at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, a result that clinched their return to the continental finals.
“We had two decisive games against Norway and it all went perfectly,” he said. “Our families were in the stands and the fans were amazing in every game. For the next few days we felt we’d achieved something special, and then we got down to our preparations for the EURO.”
On the subject of those preparations, Nemeth, who has played in England, Greece, the Netherlands, USA and now Qatar, said: “We are full of hope, and I think we’re going to be more than ready for the tournament. The coach is going to give us information on the other teams, and we have a good squad. We’re ready to spring a surprise.”
The Hungarians will play their opening match at France 2016 against Austria on 14 June, before then facing Iceland in Marseille and Portugal in Lyon. And though the pundits are not tipping Hungary to make it to the second round, Nemeth believes otherwise: “We’ve got a good side. We should be confident because we deserved to qualify. We beat Norway twice and we have to believe we have a chance. If we have that belief, we can win matches and get some points.”
He added: “All the teams in our group are strong. I think Austria are just as good as Portugal. They have very strong players and our match against them will be tough. We’re going to prepare for it properly, and we’ll be doing the same against Iceland and Portugal.”
Reviving past glories
Hungary took third place at EURO 1964 in Spain, and finished one place lower at Belgium 1972. The question is, can Nemeth and his team-mates live up to the glorious past of the Hungarian national team and its great names, such as Ferenc Puskas, who in their prime lit up the whole of Europe?
Though Nemeth felt the current side would find it hard to better the achievements of that golden generation, he was sure they can bring joy to the fans all the same: “We’ll never surpass them, but we can give our all and get good results for the supporters, who have always been behind us.”
Hungary’s joy will be all the greater should the side engineer a return to the FIFA World Cup™, a competition they have not graced since Mexico 1986, three years before Nemeth was born.
"I played for the national U-17 and U-19 teams, and I also took part in the U-20 World Cup. Now I’m dreaming of playing in the EURO with the senior team. The current squad is an interesting mix of experienced and younger players, and our next objective is qualification for the World Cup.”
That task will not be easy, with Hungary having once again been drawn with Portugal, in Group B of the European qualifiers for Russia 2018, a section in which they will also face Switzerland, who have appeared at the last three world finals, Faroe Islands, Lithuania and Andorra.
The scorer of three goals at the U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009, Nemeth said: “It’s a tight group and only one team will qualify directly [for Russia 2018]. Our goal is to perform well, and we’ll be concentrating on that as soon as the EURO are over.”
Nemeth and his compatriots are hoping that their qualification for EURO 2016 is a stepping stone to the World Cup stage, a return that Hungary fans have been dreaming about for many years.