The Hungarians are on notice after the Republic of Ireland’s surprise victory over Portugal last Thursday in Dublin.
“Did you see it? What do you think?” asked Marco Rossi, their Italian manager. “[Ireland had] a clear tactical plan that worked really well against Portugal. I think that plan was based essentially on the characteristics of the players.”
Rossi, speaking at the Hungary press conference on Saturday in their state-of-the-art Globall Hotel, said he has never encountered more “physical” opposition than Ireland while the Rapid Vienna right-back Bendegúz Bolla accused Irish players of provocation ahead of the last World Cup qualifier at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on Sunday (kick-off 2pm)
Neither manager nor player were trying to court controversy, but it seemed like they were talking directly to Norwegian referee Espen Eskås rather than the Irish journalists who journeyed to the outskirts of the Hungarian capital.
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Remarkably, three red cards have been shown by three different referees to players from Hungary, Armenia and Portugal in recent qualifiers at the Aviva Stadium. You may have heard about Cristiano Ronaldo’s sending off for elbowing Dara O’Shea last Thursday, but Hungary’s Rolland Salai was also dismissed for raking down O’Shea’s Achilles tendon on September 6th while Armenia captain Tigran Barseghyan was dismissed for head-headbutting Azaz.
“Of course we have noticed that they like provoking their opponents,” said Bolla ahead of training on one of the hotel’s six pitches. “We can never afford to retaliate or make mistakes, like in the first match when we played with a numerical disadvantage.”
Rossi, the 61-year-old former Sampdoria defender who carved out a career for himself at Hungarian and Slovakia clubs before taking the national job in 2018, had plenty to more to say about the physical Irish – or is it “British”? – approach.
“Ireland, we have to realise, at the moment, are one of the most physical teams we play. Even compared to Germany or England when we played them, Ireland is one of the most physical teams and we have to be aware of that for sure.”
Rossi even contested the sending off of Salai in the 2-2 draw on September 6th, stating immediately afterwards that the game was more like a “wrestling match” than international football.
“I gave my opinion about what happened on the pitch,” he said. “There was clear contact and a foul on [a Hungarian player] before the [Evan Ferguson] goal to make it 2-1.
“Regarding the [Sallai] red card, probably, the referee punished the reaction of our player [to being held by Josh Cullen] but there was not a clear contact.”
Replays, however, show clear contact by Sallai on O’Shea.
“Especially in the first half,” Rossi continued, “there were a lot of tackles where maybe the Irish were a bit more – how do I say it? – stronger than normal but they were not punished.
“I don’t think we have to make our players aware of provocation. The Irish, like all the British players, they do their job on the pitch, it will be not a question for us, we will only be focused on what we have to do, be aggressive as well, going into the crashes, the duels and tackles, with no fear.”
Hungary only needs a draw to progress to a play-off semi-final in March while Ireland must win.
Meanwhile, back in Budapest, Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson showered praise on Séamus Coleman before training at the Puskás Aréna.
“In life, and it applies to football, there’s two kinds of people,” said Hallgrímsson. “People that are vacuums and people that are batteries, you know, that will give energy, will give joy, will give enthusiasm. And he is a really, really, really big battery for this group in so many ways.”
Coleman was critical of Hallgrímsson’s decision to select Jake O’Brien, Matt Doherty and Jimmy Dunne as the right backs in the Ireland squad last September, before the former captain was recalled in October.
Hallgrímsson felt that Coleman lacked match sharpness, previously stating his selection would have sent the wrong message to the other players.
“The more Ireland produce [players like] Séamus in the future, the better it will be for the football team,” said Hallgrímsson.
“But that’s probably the biggest compliment I can give to anyone in life – he is the biggest battery I have worked with in a football team. Really, he is a man that loves his country and will do anything, not only to shine himself, but to get the best out of everyone around him.”
