Hungarians dare to dream

No shame
The team, made up of amateurs, may have lost 11-0 on aggregate to Italy in a December 2003 play-off for the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship but there was no shame in such a scoreline against the reigning European champions. "My players gave their best against such a strong team," coach Mihály Kozma said.

Positive signs
Indeed, there were plenty of positives, not least by their mere presence in such a high profile tie. Hungary had put themselves in a serious position to qualify for Chinese Taipei the month before by coming through a tough qualifying group that included 2003 European finalists Croatia. In the decisive match between the two emerging nations, Kozma's men had run out 7-5 winners.

Amateur status
No one should really have been too surprised. Domestic club Cso-Montage BFC, with Kozma in charge, were participants in the first-ever UEFA Futsal Cup final back in 2002. Also, the national team are firmly fixed in the top ten of the Futsal world rankings, despite the entire squad playing on a part-time basis while holding down regular jobs.

Invitation accepted
Things can only get better with Hungary showing a commitment to developing younger players by starting an Under-21 side. Hungary know they must obtain more experience at international level and were able to get just that when they were invited to take part in a friendly tournament just prior to the FIFA finals in Chinese Taipei at the end of last year.

Three victories
A 3-2 win against finalists Japan was followed by a resounding 12-0 success against Malaysia. Finally, there was a 14-0 win against the host nation, which meant the Hungarians had the honour of winning the three-team event. Hungary have continued to test themselves, including two friendly games last month in the Netherlands.

Bounced back
The Dutch won the first encounter 7-3 with Kozma bemoaning the difficulties faced by his part-time players. "The physical factor is very important in our life," he said. However, they bounced back in the second match, securing a 3-2 victory.

More action
The squad finished its preparation with a training camp and two warm-ups against Slovakia with Kozma clear about what he wanted to achieve. "The most important thing is to finalise the tactical formula," he said, fully aware of his side's strengths. "We don't have star players but we have a team spirit. In this game everyone depends on each other."

Surprise in store?
Kozma recognised that in Ostrava his team have been drawn in Group B and will take on Spain, Italy and Portugal in that order. "It couldn't be harder," he admits, but with nothing to lose, Hungary could yet spring a surprise.

How they qualified
Hungary made the most of home advantage in UEFA European Futsal Championship Group 6 to qualify for the first time with three 4-2 victories. Notably, their success again came at the expense of Croatia, who they had eliminated previously in qualifying for the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship. Hungary made a fine start in Budapest by beating Latvia with János Madarász scoring twice either side of strikes from Gábor Somogyi and Zsolt Gyurcsányi. Their next encounter saw them up against Greece, and despite trailing at the interval, they came back to win through with goals from Miklós Tóth, Tamás Lódi and two from Pál Baranyai. The Hungarians finished the job against the Croatians with Somogyi, Szabolcs Tóth, Gábor Szalay and Balázs Simon putting the game beyond their opponents before two late consolations.

Futsal founded: 1986
World ranking: 8
Best international performance: FIFA Futsal World Championship second group stage 1989