It hurt a little, but it looked much better

Compared to the line-up in Margitsziget a week ago, there was a change in the goalkeeping front: while the Italians played their 13, Nicosia, at the Domino Trans Cup, now we started with Márk Bányai, while their 1- es, del Lungo reached for the balls. Well, Marci Vámos returned - so the Olympic thirteen could play for the first time.

We wouldn't necessarily blame it on that, but rather on the time that had passed and the training sessions completed in the meantime, but the fact that the match did not even remind us of Budapest, that the first eight minute reflected it perfectly. Last Saturday, after a 1-5 start, we got into a hopeless chase - now we were tied 3-3 at the end of the opening quarter. Although the attack started with difficulty, our goals came from a nicely used four (Vámos) and two fives (Gergő Fekete and then Krisztián Manhercz), it's a shame that we missed Bruni's centering at the back.

The second in the fourth quarter, however, the tide turned, the men at the back were very organized, they were making the disadvantages one after another - the Italian referees were playing a semi-Sicilian home field around this time, three here, two here, roughly -, Márk Bányai was able to get to several balls, moreover, the guys blocked more in about five minutes than in the Budapest match in total.

In front, first Gergő Zalánki and then Dénes Varga scored a goal and after 3-5 we kept this advantage until halftime. Although the home team always came closer, we regularly scored the next goal, Szilárd Jansik from the penalty area, and then Vámos managed to score one right before the whistle, so the score was 5-7 at the break.

the third started encouragingly, Vigvári hung up after a Bányai defense, but we put the ball in front of the Italian defender who was chasing him instead of Vince - they came back from that, until Condemi blew in a goal, so it was 6-7 instead of three. You will soon be drinking after receiving a 65 percent penalty on the face of it. Marci Vámos was less excited by this, he beat the next advantage hard - and from there a more serious battle began, in which our defense was still very well on its feet.

A little more than two minutes before the end of the quarter, the referees got bored. minor math problems and Vámos and Iocchi Gratta were thrown out with red cards (earlier there was a more serious gathering in the area of Gergő Fekete, but then the two captains, Sandro Campagna and Zsolt Varga, got there in a hurry, and in the end a simple exhibition was the end of the matter - now the with two replacements, they wanted to prevent further provocations). In five out of five games, they managed to gain an advantage, as the doubles had just finished, and the Italian came much closer, Gergő Zalánki instead hit the ball between del Lungo's eyes, so the two-wood lead (7-9) remained for the final quarter.

Soon it was three, because Zalánki started the fourth period with a dazzling drop, but the answer came immediately. Then, after another great block, Hárai took the lead, but after the timeout, Manhercz's shot reached del Lungo. It was a pity for him, because at the end of an almost dying home attack, seasoned with angles, Condemi found the long range from a rather sharp angle; Bányai had been accumulating feats until now, and he didn't even know how this one slipped past his hands.

The attack stopped a little, but we escaped a disadvantage (in total we managed to neutralize 9 out of 12!), then we were able to block it into a center screw (!). Dénes Varga's shot came off the crossbar at 1:50, but Cassia was not taken seriously by Molnár, and the former equalized with a snap bomb 1:33 before the end. We're in denial, we haven't scored a goal in six minutes - then we got another chance from the advantage, we got it at 1:06, and we turned it around again after a timeout. It didn't go in, Vigvári's shot got stuck in del Lungo's arm, then after a save by Bányai, Dénes Varga attempted a free throw, but this was also saved by the Italian, so another five-man duel could come.

No one made a mistake in the first three rounds. , then Gergő Fekete bombed the post - del Lungo gave him a hand because he was watching all this from the other corner... - and that was the decision, as Vogel Soma, who came to the last three fives, was cold this time and couldn't do a miracle.

Federal captain Zsolt Varga:

"The picture of the game was absolutely different compared to last week - I am satisfied with this tour so far, I felt the match was extremely useful practices, the two quarters against the Japanese, or the two goals against the Italians on Thursday evening. We got off to a bad start, we turned it around, this morning there was a bit of a struggle - and now the match also gave us a lot. It's true, the two teams have reached the point by now, so if we were to play again, I don't think we'd get away without some serious clashes - of course, as always, when we train and play so much with the Italians, including the time we spent together in Budapest, that's in the cards .

Yes, today our defense also started to come together, but we needed these practices to become more and more tight at the back, to develop communication between the players, and thus to be able to play a good, safe defense. Why we couldn't score a goal in the last seven minutes, and why the match turned out the way it did... Well, you always have to look back at what happened, I wouldn't want to make more serious assessments, but the home referees had a serious say in the history of the match when they should have intervened, they didn't do it when they shouldn't have, they sent Marcie Vámos out for a small pull...

The point, however, is that we withstood this pressure, moved forward with good blocks and good defenses, there was strength in the team – and in the future we will do our best to be even stronger in the water, no matter what happens on the shore.”

Preparatory match, Syracuse

Italy-Hungary 10-10 (3-3, 2-4, 2-2, 3-1) - with penalty kicks: 5-4

Goals : Zalánki 3, Vámos 3, Manhercz, Dénes Varga, Jansik Sz., Fekete