After the draw of the groups, we didn't consider ourselves lucky. Portugal and Sweden were clearly considered stronger, and even Denmark had been in 7 Euro Cups, most recently in 2004, compared to our 2 appearances. We started the series with a new head coach, a foreign manager again after the unsuccessful attempt with Lothar Matthaus a few years ago. Our first two games were not very productive, or maybe it was exactly what we expected: a draw with Denmark at home(although we played better...) and a loss in Sweden. But after that came three victories with a 4-0 goal difference. Of course, I haven't mentioned the opponents yet...
Vs. Albania, at Malta, at Albania is our unbeaten streak. No doubt, not the most impressive. But if you consider that both Portugal and Sweden had played 0:0 against Albania in their first matches, the picture is a little brighter. All right, it's still not a guarantee of qualification, but you have to start somewhere. The team's MVP is probably the striker Sándor Torghelle. He had scored in three consecutive qualification matches, and all of those were game-winners.
The next game is at home versus Malta in front of a full house. In recent years, this mainly occurred against teams like Argentina or Brazil, not against Malta. Although considering the current situation, it is not surprising. People start to like this team again. All 35,000 tickets were sold in advance, and those who have one feel lucky about that. I hate to use the word "guarantee," but this is a match we should absolutely win, especially in front of this eager crowd.
