The Hungarian national football team played much better than England in places on Saturday evening. The question in everyone remains: why were there over 30.000 children cheering for the home team? Continue reading our article to find out more.
Last Saturday evening, the Hungarian soccer team beat their English rivals at the Puskás Arena. The English team were the European silver medalists, this is why their defeat is surprising. We can firmly say that their first day of the 2022-2023 Nations League is not off to a great start. To great outrage from the foreign team, the audience was not made up of adults. This time, it was children who cheered on the Hungarian team.
Why were there children in the Hungarian arena?
The European Football Association (UEFA) originally imposed three closed-gate penalties on the Hungarian national team. This is because last summer’s European Championship was attended by unruly Hungarian fans. The penalty was later reduced to two closed-gate matches and the second closed-gate match was then suspended for two years, writes Magyar Nemzet. This is the very reason why the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) had to play by the rules. They took the opportunity to invite children under the age of 14, free of charge.
The case is that the 30.000 children verbally expressed their disdain towards England while the foreign team took a knee.
Here is a video about what happened:
Hungary forced to play game behind closed doors due to fan racism, let in 30,000+ under 14s, who boo England players taking the knee pic.twitter.com/jt652RE310
— Sam Cunningham (@samcunningham) June 4, 2022
According to the BBC, this is a thought-provoking blind spot in UEFA’s regulations, as while the closed-gate penalty should have been a deterrent, instead the Hungarian team were allowed to play in a festive atmosphere.
English press coverage of Hungarian victory
While the Hungarian soccer players celebrate, the English have to face the harsh truth. Their performance was indeed so lacklustre that not even their press could console them. The “tired and mediocre” play of the English team could not prevent the Hungarian victory, Origó reports. Gareth Southgate could not see any encouraging signs in his team’s play. They were rarely able to cause any trouble in front of the Hungarian goal, while the home side played much more creatively and determinedly – writes the BBC.
They liken England to a “dead battery” which they have tried in vain to revive.
The Guardian compares the England team to toothless lions, and the paper agrees that England played one of the worst games in our history in Budapest. The Guardian says Zsolt Nagy sprawled “theatrically” before the penalty. The England team was compared to the children cheering from up above.
The England team were slow, ponderous – the foreign press adds.
Source: magyarnemzet.hu, origo.hu, bbc.com, theguardian.com
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