Hungary boss urges England to stand by Gareth Southgate despite the humiliating 4-0 defeat

Seb Sternik
15 June 2022

England boss Gareth Southgate warned over Qatar comments

Hungary manager Marco Rossi came out in defence of England manager Gareth Southgate and urged the Three Lions to keep faith with the 51-year-old despite the 4-0 hammering at Molineux.

England closed out one of the worst international breaks in recent memory with an embarrassing four-goal defeat to Hungary in the UEFA Nations League - a result which leaves the team bottom of their group and at serious risk of relegation.

This was Hungary's first away victory over the Three Lions since the infamous 'Match of the Century' back in 1953, when the visitors shocked the world by winning 6-3 at Wembley.

The result rounded off a winless month for Southgate's men, who earlier lost 1-0 in Budapest before drawing with Germany and Italy.

With just five months remaining until the start of the World Cup in Qatar, there are serious question marks over Southgate's position. However, one man backing the England boss is his Hungarian counterpart, who has called on the Three Lions to keep calm in spite of Tuesday's disastrous result.

"I think also the English press everybody must be aware that sometimes this kind of results could happen," the Magyars manager said.

"In this match they did a lot. They maintained I think 65 per cent or more of ball possession, they create several options to score some goals.

"I know that losing 4-0 at home to Hungary (is hard to take) not against Brazil or Argentina.

"Even in that case, it would be for the English people it would be the same because losing at home 4-0 is difficult to be accepted by the crowd, by the press, by everybody.

"But I think that Southgate already proved to be a quite good coach. He put together quite a strong team.

4 - Hungary are the first team to score four goals in an away match against England since the Hungarians themselves won 6-3 at Wembley in November 1953. Wolves. pic.twitter.com/2U1zzsbvsy
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 14, 2022

"Tonight everything went in the wrong way for them but, still, they are absolutely on the top level.

"They must only follow the track that they were doing until now, were following until now, because I'm convinced they will give to you a lot of joy in the next world championship. I am sure about that."

England face two more UEFA Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany in September before jetting off to Qatar for the start of the World Cup.