Hungary vs. Finland
UEFA Nations League | Group C2
Saturday, Sept. 8 | 11 a.m. CT | ESPN3, WatchESPN
Tampere Stadium | Tampere, Finland
As one of the most productive homegrown players in Major League Soccer, Sporting KC forward Daniel Salloi has joined the Hungary senior national team for the first time. Salloi and the Magyars will kick off their 2018-19 UEFA Nations League campaign on Saturday, visiting Finland at 11 a.m. CT in a game that will stream live on ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
The 22-year-old Salloi has represented Hungary four times in 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying, notably notching a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win over Cyprus last November. This trip marks his first inclusion at the senior level, with head coach Marco Rossi assembling a 23-man squad that will battle Finland before returning home next Tuesday to host Greece.
Hungary, Finland, Greece and Estonia comprise Group C2, with a double-round-robin seeing each team play six times between now and November. The first-place finisher will earn promotion to League B for the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League.
Salloi, who leads MLS homegrown players with 16 combined goals (nine) and assists (seven) in all competitions this season, is one of five forwards on Hungary’s roster. The most accomplished striker in the squad is 30-year-old Adam Szalai, who has 15 goals in 46 career caps. Szalai has bagged three goals in two Bundesliga matches this season for TSG Hoffenheim. Salloi won’t be the lone MLS representative, either, as he will be joined by D.C. United midfielder Zoltan Stieber.
Hungary, No. 51 in the latest FIFA rankings, competed at UEFA Euro 2016 in France, their first European Championship appearance since 1972. Finland, meanwhile, sits close behind at No. 62 and has two MLS players on its roster in Montreal Impact defender Jukka Raitala and Minnesota United FC midfielder Rasmus Schuller.
Hungary Roster
Goalkeepers: Denes Dibusz (Ferencvaros), Peter Gulacsi (RB Leipzig), Adam Kovacsik (Mol Vidi)
Defenders: Tamas Kadar (Dynamo Kiev), Paulo Vinicius (Mol Vidi), Adam Lang (CFR Cluj), Barnabas Bese (Le Havre), Gergo Lovrencsics (Ferencvaros), Attila Fiola (Mol Vidi), Endre Botka (Ferencvaros), Krisztian Tamas (Mol Vidi)
Midfielders: Laszlo Kleinheisler (FK Astana), Zsolt Kalmar (DAC), Istvan Kovacs (Mol Vidi), Mate Patkai (Mol Vidi), Adam Nagy (Bologna), Gergo Nagy (Budapest Honved)
Forwards: Adam Szalai (TSG Hoffenheim), Roland Sallai (APOEL Nicosia), Daniel Salloi (Sporting Kansas City), Zoltan Stieber (D.C. United), Roland Varga (Ferencvaros), Marton Eppel (Almati Kajrat)
