Hungary hope to stifle England

Hungary are competing in the first rank of FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying for the first time - and on Thursday will find out what life is all about at the highest level when they welcome England to the small town of Tapolca.

English challenge
England, having hosted UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2005™, are determined to qualify for China 2007 as of right, and won their opening Group 5 fixture 4-1 in Austria - who then promptly gained a 3-0 victory in Hungary. Home coach András Telek, the ex-Ferencvárosi TE player who was capped 24 times for the Hungarian men’s team, is well aware his nation's first competitive meeting with England at this level is a mammoth challenge.

'Hard game'
"We are preparing for a very hard game against England as they are in the best ten teams in the world and we are somewhere below 30 in the rankings," he said. "I'm sure that they will have much more possession than us, so our job is easy: we have to stop them playing fluently."

Hungarian tactics
Telek, whose only injury doubt is midfielder Anikó Deli, elaborated: "From my personal experience with the national team and Ferencváros, I can say that the best thing you can do when you are playing against a stronger side is to leave no space at all to attack and then to start quick counterattacks yourselves."

French defeat
England's hopes of qualifying were further boosted recently when the team that pipped them to the 2003 finals, France, suffered a shock defeat by the Netherlands. Still, England coach Hope Powell believes that result will have to act as a lesson for her players too.

No complacency
"We can't underestimate Hungary," she told TheFA.com. "After what Holland did to France, our players shouldn't need reminding of what can happen if you're not right on your game. Just because we beat Austria then they beat Hungary doesn’t mean we are going to get three points on Thursday - that sort of logic doesn’t work in football."

Duo absent
Powell, having called up Laura Bassett and Kelly McDougall to replace injured captain Faye White and absent striker Amanda Barr, added: "After losing their first game the Hungarians will be looking to put some points on the board and will be really up for this match. We have had them watched and we know they have some nippy players in a team that tries to play decent football and can be dangerous."