Dominik Szoboszlai is living the dream of millions of young Hungarian boys, something no one thought possible a few years ago. Last season, he won the English Premier League with Liverpool, playing in 37 out of the 38 league games. And he does not seem to be slowing down this season either.
That is despite the fact that the Hungarian star midfielder was forced to play right-back in his last two games for Liverpool. Both players originally tasked with covering that position, fresh signing Jeremie Frimpong and the youngster Conor Bradley, have been injured. So, manager Arne Slot has called on Szoboszlai to solve the emergency.
Szoboszlai started as a right-back in the crucial title clash against Arsenal on Sunday, 31 August, at Anfield in Liverpool. His fellow Hungarian international, Milos Kerkez, was playing on the opposite side of the home team’s defence, at left-back.
Liverpool came into the game as defending champions, while Arsenal have finished second in the last three EPL seasons—these two teams will be in contention for the title again by any reasonable expectations.
Despite the high stakes and high quality of players, the game was not all too exciting. Only a total of four shots have hit the targets, three on the Liverpool side and one on the Arsenal side. However, one of the three Liverpool shots on target ended up being quite memorable, especially for Hungarian football fans.
In the 83rd minute, Szoboszlai took a free kick from 32 yards (30 metres) out, a little to the right of the centre of Arsenal’s goal. After a long run-up, he smashed the ball into the near top corner, grazing the inside of the post. Goalkeeper David Raya had no chance; the ball took a swirl to his right hand after moving past the wall.
What’s more, the goal ended up proving to be a winner for Liverpool, as the game finished 1–0. The Reds have won all three of their matches in the league this season. Szoboszlai’s stunning free kick has won him praise from all of the English football media, and even from the opponent’s manager, Mikel Arteta.
After the game, Dominik Szoboszlai told reporters ‘I was confident in myself, I tried it. I should mention Trent [Alexander-Arnold, the English right-back who transferred to Real Madrid from Liverpool at the end of last season] because he was taking the free kicks in the past. Finally, I could have my chance, and I did it. I had to take a risk and shoot a little bit harder because I knew Raya likes to jump behind the ball. He’s an unbelievable goalkeeper. If it goes a bit more inside, he saves it,’ as quoted by the British newspaper The Guardian.
Even Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary has commented on Szoboszlai’s screamer against Arsenal. He jokingly posted ‘Next time, Szoboszlai will launch Tibi Kapu’, in a reference to Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu, who has recently visited the International Space Station.
Dominik Szoboszlai is now on international duty. He will be leading Hungary as the National Team captain in two World Cup qualifiers, against Ireland on Saturday, 6 September in Dublin, Ireland, and then against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal on Tuesday, 9 September in Budapest, Hungary.
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