Our U13s spent three days in Belgrade and returned home with valuable experience. The field was divided into five groups of ten teams, so our academy players faced a tough challenge from the group stage onwards.
Despite the long journey, our players cleared the first hurdle straight away: Dániel Kovács scored the only goal in our opening match against FC Coerver Novi Pazar to give us a 1–0 win. Our momentum carried on, as Szabolcs Földi’s side lost only once in the group stage and reached the round of 16 with six wins and two draws. In the knockout stage, our age-group team faced FK Sarajevo but were unable to overcome the Bosnian side, losing by a single goal.
Nevertheless, our achievement at the tournament was noteworthy: our academy players finished ahead of Panathinaikos, AEK Athens and Beşiktaş, among others, to secure a place in the top 16.
Results:
Kispest–Honvéd FC–FC Coerver Novi Pazar (SRB) 1–0
Our scorer: Dániel Kovács
Kispest–Honvéd FC–FK Laktasi (BIH) 0–1
Kispest–Honvéd FC–FK Nana Juniors (ROU) 2–0
Our scorers: Dániel Kovács, Milos Nagy
Kispest–Honvéd FC–FK Stari Aerodom (MNE) 0–0
Kispest–Honvéd FC–FK Nika Plavi (SRB) 5–0
Our scorers: Dániel Kovács, Patrik Szijjártó, Gábor Pintér, Milán Becz, Döme Polonkai
Kispest–Honvéd–FK Napredak Krusevac (SRB) 2–0
Our scorers: Gábor Pintér, Dániel Kovács
Kispest–Honvéd FC–FK Zeleznicar Pancevo (SRB) 2–0
Scorer: Dániel Kovács (2)
Kispest–Honvéd FC–FK Jedinstvo Surcin (SRB) 2–0
Scorers: Benji Lázár, Nimród Tar
Kispest–Honvéd FC–FK Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) 0–0
Kispest–Honvéd FC–FK Sarajevo (BIH) 0–1
The participating players: Milán Becz, Richárd Békeffy, László Czipa, Dávid Hollósi, Gergő Kardos, Dániel Kovács, Benjámin Lázár, Milos Nagy, Gábor Zalán Pintér, Döme Polonkai, Dániel Simon, Miklós Somogyi, Patrik Szijjártó, Nimród Tar, Donát Balogh.
Szabolcs Földi, head coach:
“We came back from the tournament with positive experiences because the style of play we have developed worked well against opponents with different footballing philosophies. We took the initiative and our team showed the courage to remain patient under intense pressure, drawing our opponents forward before playing in behind at the right moment and building dynamic attacks. We repeatedly created numerical advantages in the attacking third during our matches. We need to improve our ability to capitalise on those situations and become more deliberate in creating and exploiting favourable spaces. Our mentality in one-on-one duels is getting closer to international standards, but there is still room to improve. Overall, it was a useful tournament. We gained important experience, and I am proud of the team for reaching the last 16, finishing ahead of several renowned clubs.”
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