Hungarian National Team: Roland Varga is returning, Géresi is debuting – Here is Rossi’s squad

Roland Varga last played for Hungary on November 29, 2019 against Wales (0–2) in the European Championship qualifiers. The 31-year-old forward scored three times in 19 appearances with the national team.

Like Varga, László Kleinheisler is capped again for the Hungarian national team after nearly a year and a half. The 26-year-old NK Osijek midfielder was invited by Rossi to the team in the fall, but Kleinheisler was quarantined due to the coronavirus outbreak and remained in Croatia. The 29-time national team footballer last played in the Euro 2019 qualifier, which Hungary lost 3–0 to Croatia in October 2019 when he was red-carded in the 56th minute.

26-year-old Krisztián Géresi, who is on loan from Fehérvár at Puskás Academy, has never played in the senior national team. He made three appearances in the U21 all in 2016.

Puskás Academy's 23-year-old goalkeeper, Balázs Tóth, also received an invitation for the first time. The player, who is raised in Felcsút, has not received a single goal in nine out of 23 Hungarian League (NB I) matches this season. Tóth replaces Ádám Kovácsik because of his injury.

Marco Rossi doesn't count on 26-year-old Barnabás Bese this time. The 23-time national team right-back played three games in the fall and provided an assist in the Nations League clash against Russia. The former MTK player made only three league appearances for his Belgian club Leuven in 2021 - once in the 72^nd minute and twice in extra time as a substitute.

"As I said earlier, if only someone doesn't draw attention to themselves with an outlier performance, there's no point in changing the fall lineup,” mlsz.hu quotes Marco Rossi on his first World Cup qualifying squad. “Besides, Dominik Szoboszlai and Norbert Könyves are injured, Ádám Gyurcsó currently plays little for his club team, so I cannot count on them this time. At the same time, Roland Varga has done very well with changing clubs; he plays a lot and scores a lot of goals. He is in excellent form."

"The same can be said of Krisztián Géresi, who has the skills we need. Although he is not yet in top form, I am confident that the invitation will give him another boost to achieve them. Due to the absence of Ádám Kovácsik because of injury, and because Balázs Tóth also performs well, he is given the opportunity to play as he is one of the best young goalkeepers in the country. I would have relied on Dániel Gazdag in November, but unfortunately the coronavirus intervened. At the same time, I think that at international level he can do his best as a midfielder rather than in the position he has been playing for Honvéd a lot lately."

"We have three very difficult games ahead of us in March," the head coach added. – The Polish national team, which currently officially has the best player in the world, is the second strongest team in our group and is managed by an excellent new head coach, Paulo Sousa. On paper, we should defeat San Marino and Andorra, but winning these two meetings will also be a serious task! A few years ago, it was in Andorra that we saw what could happen if an opponent was not taken seriously enough. The defeat in Andorra showed that even a match against a small team can be very difficult if we're not focused and we don't take the match seriously enough.”

According to the announcement of the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ), the squad members playing in domestic clubs will meet in Telki on Thursday, March 18, and the others playing abroad will join them after their league matches on the weekend.

The team travels to San Marino on March 27, then to Andorra the following day.

Translated by Vanda Orosz

HUNGARIAN NATIONAL TEAM SQUAD
Goalkeepers:Dénes Dibusz (FTC), Péter Gulácsi (RB Leipzig – Germany), Balázs Tóth (Puskás Academy)
Defenders:Endre Botka (FTC), Attila Fiola (Mol Fehérvár FC), Szilveszter Hangya (Mol Fehérvár FC), Ákos Kecskés (Lugano – Switzerland), Ádám Lang (Omonia Nicosia – Cyprus), Gergő Lovrencsics (FTC), Willi Orbán (RB Leipzig – Germany), Attila Szalai (Fenerbahce – Turkey)
Midfielders:Tamás Cseri (Mezőkövesd), Dániel Gazdag (Budapest Honvéd), Filip Holender (FK Partizan – Serbia), Zsolt Kalmár (DAC – Slovakia), László Kleinheisler (NK Osijek – Croatia), Ádám Nagy (Bristol City – England), Loïc Négo (Mol Fehérvár FC), András Schäfer (DAC – Slovakia), Dávid Sigér (FTC)
Forwards: Krisztián Géresi (Puskás Academy), Nemanja Nikolić (Mol Fehérvár FC), Roland Sallai (Freiburg – Germany), Ádám Szalai (Mainz – Germany), Kevin Varga (Kasimpasa – Turkey), Roland Varga (MTK Budapest)

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS IN MARCH
GROUP I
ROUND 1, MARCH 25, THURSDAY
8.45PM: HUNGARY–Poland
8.45PM: England–San Marino
8.45PM: Andorra–Albania

ROUND 2, MARCH 28, SUNDAY
6PM: Albania–England
8.45PM: San Marino–HUNGARY
8.45PM: Poland–Andorra

ROUND 3, MARCH 31, WEDNESDAY
8.45PM:Andorra–HUNGARY
8.45PM:Endland–Poland
8.45PM:San Marino–Albania