Hungary Media Did Not Spare Team Or Viktor Orban After Ireland Collapse

Yesterday’s game in Budapest was a massive occasion for Ireland, but it was an equally disappointing fixture for the host nation. Hungary entered the game in prime position to qualify for the play-offs, aiming for their first World Cup appearance since 1986.

They needed only a draw against Ireland to ensure a top two finish in the group, making the manner of their last minute defeat all the more heartbreaking for those involved. Of course, some would suggest that Hungary brought such an outcome on themselves with their questionable antics over the course of the game.

Still, it is perhaps no surprise to learn that the reaction to the result in the central European country has been a fierce one.

The Hungarian Media Did Not Spare Team Or Viktor Orban After Ireland Collapse

The Hungarian media have been fairly critical of the team in the aftermath of the loss to Ireland, with it being expected that their team would reach the play-offs in this campaign.

Nemzeti Sport said that the Irish side gave the hosts a lesson in responding to adversity:

Troy Parrott’s name has probably been remembered by the Hungarian national team players for life…

The reasons could be listed at length, and bad luck could be mentioned, but the Irish gave the Hungarians a thorough lesson this time on how to recover from a defeated situation.

The Irish fans were still jumping in their seats half an hour after the whistle, many of them were singing while half-naked, and one of them occasionally shook some kind of bell, to which the nearly three thousand Irish people started singing and jumping at the same time.

There was certainly quite the contrast between the two set of supporters after the final whistle.

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Meanwhile, 24.hu raised the fact that the last side that Ireland had scored more than twice in a game was against Gibraltar over two years ago.

For comparison: the opponent has not scored more than twice in any other match in the past two years, and the last time they inflicted such a loss was Gibraltar…

The very (Hungary) team that had previously brought us the thrill of success for years has now – by piling up rudimentary mistakes – eliminated itself from its group.

Index suggested that the Hungarian campaign had gone largely to plan right up until its final moments.

Everything went according to plan until the last minute.

We beat the Armenians back and forth, we didn’t concede a goal. We brought a point from Dublin, Adam Idah equalized in the 93rd minute. Against the Portuguese, everyone was hoping for a home draw, but fate gave us the one point away, and luck was on our side this time at the last minute.

The last minute was now a penalty.

With the current climate in Hungary, this result also had something of a political element to it.

Their Prime Minister Viktor Orban has used football as a tool to stoke nationalist sentiments in the country, pumping huge amounts of money into the game. He has also made some rather outlandish claims about their national team’s capabilities on the pitch.

Nepsava jokingly listed a number of factors that those in Hungary could look to blame instead of accepting the responsibility for their shortcomings in this game.

The Irish are at fault because they played in a style that was very unpleasant for the Hungarian national team, they were constantly looking for duels, they clashed, they were tough, aggressive, this approach is far from the Hungarian style based on spectacle and technique…

Everyone who disagrees with the government’s illiberal policies is at fault, every opposition-minded Hungarian citizen is rooting against Hungarian sports successes. This is a fact, the pro-government commentators have said it. And then it is so.

They were not the only party to raise the government’s close links to the national team.

Well-known Hungarian political commentator Torok Gabor said while their Italian manager Marco Rossi would likely be blamed, he said there had been a mismanagement of the vast funds made available for football with the country.

Those who have been watching Hungarian football for a long time know the value of what Rossi has achieved: that the team played the best match of the series in Portugal, that they performed far above the opponent in Dublin and now in Budapest quite a few times…

Despite the unprecedented amount of public money and unprecedented political attention, where is the Hungarian football talent today in training and managing it? Less boasting and success propaganda, more competition and knowledge – I think this is what should be done, not the crucifixion of the team and the manager.

Fairly damning stuff.

While Ireland will now be preparing for a World Cup play-off, you get the sense that the post mortem into this result is only just beginning in Hungary.

Hungary Media Did Not Spare Team Or Viktor Orban After Ireland Collapse

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