‘If we want to qualify for the World Cup, we have to be able to beat Armenia at home,’ RB Leipzig defender and Hungarian international Willi Orbán has stated in the Hungarian press ahead of the next World Cup qualifiers, a sentiment that was echoed by others on the team. The thesis was simple enough, however, there were some challenges in the execution.
Barnabás Varga, the in-form centre forward of Ferencváros who scored 13 goals in 16 games for his club this season, was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Roland Sallai, the energetic winger from Galatasaray, was also prohibited from playing, because of his red card against Ireland in the qualifying campaign opener. Meanwhile, Armenia were coming to Hungary boosted in confidence by their surprise home win against Ireland.
So, despite what some Hungarian fans were hoping for, the game did not start too smoothly for the home side at the Puskás Arena in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday, 11 October.
The first half ended goalless. Dániel Lukács, filling in for Varga, did have a promising chance after Hungary won possession close to the Armenian goal, but goalkeeper Henri Avagyan was able to save the one-on-one with his foot.
At the beginning of the second half, however, Lukács came out on top in their second face-to-face duel. He converted a great pass into the opposition box by Rapid Wien’s Bendegúz Bolla.
Near the end, Lukács’s teammate at Puskás Akadémia, Zsolt Nagy, hit the post with a header after a corner by Dominik Szoboszlai. Then, in additional time, Zsombor Gruber of Ferencváros tied all the loose ends up by making it 2–0 for Hungary. Both Lukács and Gruber scored their first goal for the Hungarian men’s national team.
After getting the ‘compulsory homework’ done, Hungary will be heading to Portugal for some ‘extra credits’. Even a draw against Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the world-class Portuguese side on Tuesday, 14 October would be more than any reasonable person could expect in the qualifiers. Currently, Hungary are sitting on four points after three games in their group.
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