Four Honvéd players – Dominik Acsai, Áron Russnák, Tamás Somogyi and Zalán Varga – started the match, which Hungary won 2-0, while Martin Bogdán came on as a substitute. Mátyás Jakab, who is joining Juventus from our academy, kept a clean sheet. The two teams will meet again on Thursday.
U16 friendly match:
Albania-Hungary 0-2 (0-0)
Hungary U16: Jakab Mátyás - Acsai Dominik (Vincze Tamás, 68.), Russnák Áron, Tóth Miklós, Papp Máté - Polonkai Noel (Bogdán Martin, 77.), Somogyi Tamás (Tímár Martin, 83.), Milkovics Márton (Somfalvi Barna, 46.) - Varga Zsolt (Zsolnai Dávid, 83.), Görög Vincent (Gyánó Marcell, 46.), Varga Zalán (Berekméri-Szigeti Ákos, 46.). National coach: József Szabados
Goals: Varga Zs. (54), Polonkai (58.–penalty)
József Szabados's assessment:
„We created more opportunities than our opponents in the first half as well, but at that stage we still made many technical mistakes and our play was too direct. We made changes in several positions for the second half, and besides the substitutes coming on well, the members of the starting line-up also came out with a completely different approach after the break. We controlled the match throughout the second half, scored goals and created chances, and even when they were behind the Albanians were unable to put us under pressure. We are right at the beginning of the season and the players are not yet in league form, which I attribute the more restrained first-half performance to, but overall I am satisfied because we managed to win and the match served both individual and team development well."
Honvéd players with national teams (February):
U16: Acsai Dominik, Russnák Áron, Bogdán Martin, Somogyi Tamás, Varga Zalán (Jakab Mátyás)
U17: Rankó Viktor, Milicz Péter, Petrók Viktor, Meskó Márk
U18: Gáspár Dávid
Women's senior team: Schildkraut Fruzsina
February schedule of national-team matches involving Honvéd players:
12 February, 15:00 Switzerland–Hungary (U17) friendly match
13 February, 14:30 Albania–Hungary (U16) friendly match
15 February, 12:00 Ireland–Hungary (U17) friendly match
21 February, 20:00 Belarus–Hungary (women) Nations League
25 February, 18:00 Hungary–Finland (women) Nations League
26 February, 18:30 Italy–Hungary (U18) friendly match
Featured image source: MLSZ
