A despondent look at Hungarian striker Barnabas Varga, during the defeat to Switzerland at Euro 2024.©AFP
Marco Rossi failed in Hungary after the Euro 2024 campaign began with a dismal 3-1 defeat to Switzerland on Saturday and warned it could be “impossible” to beat group favorites Germany in their next match. Rossi’s side failed to live up to their pre-tournament rating as underdogs with a mediocre display in Cologne. They were rocked by first-half goals from Kwadwo Duah and Michel Aebischer, who scored their first international goals. Barnabas Varga’s second-half header gave Hungary hope, but Breel Embolo came off the bench to score in stoppage time in his first international appearance since 2022.
“We had a tactical misunderstanding. We couldn’t deal with the situation and we didn’t have time to put pressure on them. The first half was very bad. We were very passive,” said Rossi.
“Switzerland are very experienced, with quality players all over the pitch. Against teams of this level you run the risk of doing bad things. They made most of our mistakes.”
Accepting his part of the blame, in addition to criticizing his players, Rossi said: “I don’t look for anyone to blame. I am the coach and I need to take my responsibility.
“We had some deficiencies in individual performances. There are not many strategies to avoid individual mistakes.
“It’s hard to say anyone did well except for two or three performances.”
Hungary’s defeat leaves them three points behind hosts Germany and second-placed Switzerland in Group A.
Defeat against Germany on Wednesday would be a blow to Hungary’s hopes of reaching the last 16, and Rossi admitted he is not confident of changing the odds.
“We play Germany in four days. I challenge anyone to bet a Hungarian forint on us. As of today that seems impossible,” he said.
“Germany are a different team from the last Euro, they proved that against Scotland. In my opinion, they are the biggest favorites for the European Championship.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
This story originally appeared on ndtv.com read the full story
