Rossi Reveals He Will Not Manage Another National Team after Hungary
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Italian Marco Rossi, who also holds Hungarian citizenship, has been in charge of the national team since June 2018, and Thursday’s Nations League qualifier in Türkiye will be his 73rd match with the Hungarian team. On this occasion, he gave an exclusive interview to Turkish sports newspaper Fanatik.
In the interview, Rossi said he has been the Hungarian national team captain for almost seven years and has a very close relationship with the country and its people.
After I leave the Hungarian national team, I will no longer manage another national team again. My contract expires at the end of the year and I will always be grateful to the president of the MLSZ. I will determine my future depending on his opinion,”
he revealed.
He also spoke about the Hungarian and Turkish national teams: “We have suffered a lot in Nations League, but overall we are on the right track. We finished first in the 2021 Nations League in the group that Türkiye were in, and in 2022 we beat England and Germany and finished second in League A behind Italy. We have played some tough opponents recently, but we have not had the big wins we have had in the past. It was the same at the 2024 European Championship, where luck was not on our side, even though we had not lost a game in 2023,” Rossi said, before moving on to the next rival.
“Turkish people love football, we will play in front of a full house in Istanbul. Of course it will be very difficult, but we want to win and continue in the League A. I expect an aggressive game in Istanbul, I think they will come at us from the first minute and try to keep the ball. We have to defend well, withstand pressure, position ourselves well and play our attackers. We beat them 1-0 in March 2024, but a draw would have been more realistic. They have very good players in defense and midfield. Hakan Calhanoglu is a class player, but I also really like the style of Orkun Kökcü. However, there is also Kerem Aktürkoglu, Arda Güler, Baris Alper and Kenan Yildiz up front, the Turks have a squad worth over €200 million.”
The Hungarian national football team training at the Telki Training Center on March 19. Photo: MTI/Illyés Tibor
The national team’s football manager said it means nothing that Hungary have beaten the Turks in their last three matches. “Previous results are only important for statisticians. Every match is new, different things can influence the final result.
Thus, the previous three wins do not motivate us separately, we have to prepare for the match and send our best players on the pitch. Winning the previous three games does not guarantee that we will be the better team this time, but we have to play better than the Turks,”
he explained, adding that if they said the Istanbul game would be a draw, he would accept it immediately.
Marco Rossi revealed that the Turks were one of the teams that impressed him at last year’s Euros, and congratulated his colleague Vincenzo Montella.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Marco Rossi during the match between Hungary and Germany in the Nations League at the Puskás Arena in Budapest on November 19, 2024. Photo: MTI/Kovács Tamás
Speaking about the possible line-up, he noted that Dominik Szoboszlai could be one of the key players, but the most important thing is to defend well. “Last time we received too many goals from the big teams. Hence we have to improve defensively because at this level every mistake is punished.
Thus, Szoboszlai is important for us, the way he reads the game, with his positioning, his shots and his passing. But let us not forget about Roland Sallai, who is doing well for Galatasaray, even though he plays in several positions; there have been times when he was a right-back,”
he said.
The Türkiye-Hungary match kicks off at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, with the return leg to be played on Sunday, also at 6:00 p.m. at the Puskás Arena. The winner of the tie will play in the top division of the Nations League next season, while the loser will play in League B.
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