European Championship 2024: Serbia is not a big deal either – János Csank

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2022.10.10. 20:36

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It was revealed on Sunday that the Hungarian national team will face Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Lithuania in Group G for a place at the 2024 European Championship in Germany. Three former national team head coaches, János Csank, Pál Dárdai, and Imre Gellei, gave interviews to Nemzeti Sport.

János Csank, who has managed our national team for 19 games, says: "To be honest, today's qualifying rounds are quite funny, you can't even fall out, there is always a way out... Anyway, I'm happy that we got into a good group, we are luckier than the Italians with England. We could hardly have got a weaker group, the opponents are ideal. But the dangerous thing is that it's a group where you must advance from, otherwise you'll get burned. Based on our skills, we should definitely be in the top two, Serbia could be the biggest opponent, but that's not a big deal either. All opponents are beatable - but then you have to beat them all. We are the favorites now and we have to take advantage of that. But it's something we have to learn, we have to be able to handle the burden of being favorites. Smartly, calmly, responsibly."

Pál Dárdai said, "It's not a spectacular group, we avoided the French and English in the second round, which is not a bad thing. If the crowd is as supportive as ever and fills the Puskás Arena every time, it will be a great help for the national team. On paper, we should qualify, but let's not forget that anything can happen in football. Based on recent results, finishing in one of the top two places seems a realistic goal, but it is very important that the team is not plagued by injuries. If everyone stays healthy, if the team has the same determination as before, and with wonderful fans, we can make it through. I feel that we were in good hands at the draw and that the European Championship is within reach from this group."

Imre Gellei sees our chances as follows: "We have to take all the teams very seriously that we are drawn against. We have to take Serbia and Lithuania just as seriously as we took England. There's a danger that everyone will breathe a sigh of relief now because if this is how we played against the big teams, it will be even easier now. But that is not the case. On paper, all teams are beatable, but I hope not only on paper. Marco Rossi's team has proven multiple times that it can beat any opponent and has a solid foundation to build on. It's just that no one thought the Albanians would beat us back and forth in the last World Cup qualifier. That was a good warning, so I hope we don't fall into that trap again. We are the favorite team in the group now and we deserve it. We've beaten top teams before, now we need to prove that we can play against lower-ranked opponents as well, that we can dictate the tempo and pace. And my son has already pointed out other advantages: you can take a minibus to almost every away game because distances are not long."

Few people know Hungarian and Serbian football better than Zoran Kuntić, the former striker who lived in Hungary for many years and moved back to Serbia a couple of years ago. The recent history of the two national teams has been successful for the Hungarian team: not so long ago, we played in a Nations League group, we won 1-0 at the away match with Norbert Könyves' goal, and the next match ended 1–1 at the Puskás Aréna.

"I'll probably be there at both Hungarian-Serbian matches," said the 55-year-old former footballer with a laugh. "The two teams have been playing tough games with each other lately, and this time it could be a similar encounter. The Serbian team has a lot more star players, but the Hungarian team has made a lot of progress in recent times. These two teams will probably battle it out for the top spot in the group, but in my opinion, the Serbs are the favorites. The Serbian national team is coming together better and better; head coach Dragan Stojković has put together a good team. It will also be a question of how they perform against the smaller teams... I find it hard to imagine the Hungarian team winning again in Serbia, but then again, who knows. Ferencváros was in Belgrade just the other day and lost four to one, so the Hungarian national team should be prepared for a similar atmosphere."

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024
QUALIFYING TEAMS
GROUP A: Spain, Scotland, Norway, Georgia, Cyprus
GROUP B: Netherlands, France, Ireland, Greece, Gibraltar
GROUP C: Italy, England, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Malta
GROUP D: Croatia, Wales, Armenia, Türkiye, Latvia
GROUP E: Poland, Czech Republic, Albania, Faroe Islands, Moldova
GROUP F: Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Estonia
GROUP G: HUNGARY, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Lithuania
GROUP H: Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino
GROUP I: Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus, Andorra
GROUP J: Portugal, Bosnia Herzegovina, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechtenstein