Hungarian champions Gyori ETO FC face their two matches against Maccabi Tel Aviv without any sensational names but are in the midst of an impressive improvement curve
Hungarian champions Gyori ETO FC enter tomorrow's match against Maccabi Tel Aviv a little less than three years after their last European experience, one which was particularly emotional. After advancing through two rounds in the Europa League qualifiers in 2010/11, Gyori faced the French side Montpellier and lost 0-1 at home in the first leg. On first examination, their chances of turning the situation around in an away leg to advance to the play-off stages seemed tenuous at best but head coach Atilla Pinter's lads had other ideas. Gior passed the difficult hurdle, going level on aggregate after extra time and winning the resultant penalty shoot-out. Behind the clearly frozen features of Pinter's face there was the glint of a smile of a coach who had stuck faithfully to his 4-3-3 formation and succeeded in accomplishing what seemed to be mission impossible.
Pinter has remained faithful to his formation with three forwards until this very day, a formation we're likely to see in action against Maccabi Tel-Aviv tomorrow. From box to box, Pinter will be fielding players that are worthy of our consideration. One important link in the Gyori back line answers to the name Zoltan Liptak, whose height of 6 feet 3 inches will have him looking down at Maccabi striker Rade Prica (6 feet 1 inch) from slightly above eye level. The next stop in the Hungarian champion's formation is the 25 year-old holding midfielder Mate Patkai who has managed to double his value on the transfer market owing to his spectacularly improving form.
Pinter remains zealously faithful not only to his formation but also to his current squad, having brought in reinforcements here and there this summer. In addition to Celtic's Slovakian goalkeeper Ľubos Kamenar, Gyori acquired three more players who made the short move to Hungary's sixth largest city. The arrival of 27 year-old Jamaican defender Rafe Wolfe from MTK Budapest FC represents a significant strengthening of the Gyori defence and the Cameroonian Patrick Mevoungou, who transferred from Austrian side FC Admira Wacker Mödling, will add prowess to the defensive midfield. Both players have already been in the starting eleven and were impressive in the 3-0 Gyori victory over Debrecen in last Saturday's Hungarian Supercup. Another recent acquisition who came on as a substitute against Debrecen is the 23 year-old Italian Argentine striker Leandro Antonio Martínez, who came up through the youth system at Italian side Parma and played half a season at Budapest Honvéd FC, where he scored six goals in eleven appearances.
These recent arrivals are just a small part of the 18 foreign players on the Hungarian side. The largest delegation at Gyori, five in all, is from the Balkan state of Serbia. Most notable among them are midfielders Nemanja Andric and Nikola Trajkovic, whose rapid acclimation at the club is due in large part to Gyori's 38 year-old Serbian goalkeeper Sasha Stevanovic. He has spent the last decade with the club and has had a large hand in the club's advancement in recent years, even if his personal standing at the club may diminish this season. This is the 32 year-old Trajkovic's fourth season at Gyori and after scoring seven goals last season opened this one with a goal in the Supercup. The 26 year-old Andric looks to be making a big breakthrough in his career, glimmers of which could also be seen in the Supercup. Joel Damahou, who played for three different clubs in Israel and is now holding down the midfield at Debrecen, is no doubt still feeling, along with all his teammates, the gust of wind that passed him by on the left flank last Saturday.
Along with Andric and Trajkovic, other players who will try to unsettle the Maccabi defence tomorrow are the Gyori strikers Tamas Koltai, who scored eight goals last season, and Roland Varga. For Maccabi defender Eitan Tibi this will bring back memories of his first encounter with Koltai after the two met in Israel's international friendly against Hungary last August that ended in a 1-1 draw. With Tibi grappling with Koltai's strength and power, fellow defender Carlos Garcia will want to keep an eye on a striker no less dangerous, Roland Varga. The Hungarian's biggest star, who also played for the Italian second tier side Brescia Calcio, was the lynchpin of Gyori's title charge with twelve league goals. And at 23 years of age, it's fair to assume there's more where that came from.
The main task facing Varga and co tomorrow will be to start the process of regaining for Hungarian football in general, and Gyori in particular, its place on the map of world football. A lot of water has flowed through the Danube since Gyori lost to illustrious Portuguese side Benfica in the semi-finals of the European Cup of 1965. That impressive achievement fades in the light of Gyori's current UEFA ranking of 277 and the club would no doubt be delighted to improve that ranking and take a first step to historic qualification for the Champions League. A noble ambition, surely, but better next year.
Photograph – the Gyori ETO FC official website
