Friday, June 25, 2021 at 6:34 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 18:35

It would have been close if Hungary had qualified for the eighth final of the European championship at the expense of Germany. For a long time, the team of national coach Marco Rossi was close to a thunderous sensation on Wednesday, until Leon Goretzka on behalf of Germany (2-2) tied the score five minutes before the end. With that, the Hungarians finished fourth behind France, Portugal and Germany. Rossi looks back on the final tournament with his head held high, although he does not miss the opportunity to give Cristiano Ronaldo a sneer.

The Portuguese superstar claimed a leading role against Hungary. The attacker scored twice in the 0-3 win, the first from the penalty spot. The goal felt like a liberation for the Portuguese, as Fernando Santos’ team had every possible problem with Hungary and only scored for the first time in the final phase. “Ronaldo is a great champion, but can be very annoying at times,” said Rossi in conversation with La Gazzetta dello Sport back to the meeting with Portugal. “After the penalty against us, he cheered as if he had scored in the final. That is striking. Not only with me, but also with other people.”

Hungary was already as good as written off in the group of death, but defended itself bravely and managed to keep two points through a draw against France (1-1) and Germany. As a result, Rossi’s team could hope for a place in the last sixteen until the last minute. “I slept a maximum of fifteen minutes after the game against Germany,” Rossi continues. “That gives a strange feeling. I never thought that a draw against Germany would give me an unpleasant feeling. I know we were good, but in the end we are empty-handed.”

Rossi could, among other things, count on the compliments of Didier Deschamps after the division of points against France and retroactively also looks back with satisfaction on the draw against Germany, although it did not yield the desired result for the Italian national coach. “I noticed that they celebrated as if they had won the Champions League. We can only see that as a compliment. We have brought out the maximum in ourselves and I am proud of the team.”

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