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Kalmar: Hungary must cut out errors

While acknowledging Hungary "didn't show who we really are" in their first match, Zsolt Kalmár believes eradicating individual mistakes will be crucial against Portugal.

Hungary's Zsolt Kalmár (No19) in action against Austria
Hungary's Zsolt Kalmár (No19) in action against Austria ©MLSZ

Hungary forward Zsolt Kalmár is confident that eliminating individual errors will lead to a much better performance in their second UEFA European Under-19 Championship group match against Portugal.

The hosts slipped to a 3-1 defeat against Austria on matchday one, and Kalmár believes much of the damage was self-inflicted. "In the first half we didn't show who we really are – we don't normally play like that and we didn't play the game we can," he told UEFA.com. "The opposition played as we expected them to, but we made two individual mistakes and it was very difficult to recover."

A better second-half display from Géza Mészöly's side gives Kalmár hope that Hungary can avoid defeat against Portugal, the early leaders in Group A after their 3-0 win against Israel. "In the second half we improved and made chances, but unfortunately they weren't converted. We need to do these things and concentrate more. If we play like we did in the second half against Portugal and if we play a little more aggressively, there will be no problem with the performance or the result."

A key element of that extra aggression will need to come in the attacking third, where Hungary acknowledge they will need to threaten the Portugal goal more frequently than they managed to press the Austrian rearguard. "We did get into the Austrian penalty area a few times, but they defended really well at that point," Győri ETO FC forward Kalmár explained.

"It was very difficult to play any passes to unlock their defence. We tried to attack them from the wings, but the resultant efforts went wide. From this point of view we were unlucky, but the second half is the page we need to turn over and continue from. We need to concentrate more."

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