“Catastrophe!” HSV national player starts with disgrace in the European Championship qualification

With László Bénes and Anssi Suhonen, two HSV pros are active in qualifying for the European Championship and dream of taking part in the finals in Germany. After the first day of play, one thing is certain: there is still plenty of room for improvement…

Bénes had definitely imagined the trip home differently. The midfielder was only allowed to play for Slovakia against Luxembourg for ten minutes on Thursday – and after the 0-0 draw at the start of the European Championship qualifier, there was scorn and ridicule for Bénes and his team.

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“It’s a catastrophe, a disaster,” ex-national goalkeeper Jan Mucha said on Slovakian TV. The fact that the Italian coach Francesco Calzona (did not win a single one of his five international matches) nicely talked about the draw against the soccer dwarf really pissed Mucha off: “Are we kidding here? I think he saw a different game. I hope his statements were mistranslated…”

Will HSV professional Bénes soon have a new national coach?

In any case, plenty of pressure for Bénes (played his twelfth international match) and his team ahead of the game against Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sunday in Bratislava). If things go wrong there too, the 25-year-old could soon have a new national coach.

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Anssi Suhonen suffered a defeat with the Finns at 1:3 in Denmark. Nevertheless, he left Copenhagen with a smile on his face. The 22-year-old hasn’t returned to HSV after his injury, but he’s made his comeback for the Finns and came on as a substitute 18 minutes before the end. International match number three for Suhonen – his girlfriend Lotta, who had come especially, was also happy in the stands. We’re going to Northern Ireland on Sunday.

And the other HSV professionals? András Németh earned his second international cap after 76 minutes in Hungary’s 1-0 win against Estonia. Ransford Königsdörffer followed Ghana’s 1-0 win over Angola in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers from the bench. Valon Zumberi and Kosovo U21 drew 0-0 in Moldova.