Veteran Gera leads Hungary at Euro 2016 in long-awaited return
Hungary coach Bernd Storck named veteran midfielders Zoltan Gera and Balazs Dzsudzsak to his squad for the European Championship, the country's first appearance at the continental event since 1972.
The 23-man squad also includes goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, who has played a record 102 matches with the national team, versatile MTK Budapest defender Barnabas Bese, who has yet to make his debut with the team but can also play at forward, and Werder Bremen midfielder Laszlo Kleinheisler.
"Everyone is in good physical condition and I can count on players who helped us reach the championship," the German coach said Tuesday on state television from the team's training camp in the Austrian resort of Leolang. "I'm very satisfied with the training camp. The mood has been very good."
Dzsudzsak, listed among the forwards, usually plays as a winger on the right side. Hungary has been lining up recently with a single forward in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Hungary defeated Norway in a pair of playoff games in November to reach Euro 2016, its first major tournament since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Among the players cut from the squad Tuesday were Getafe goalkeeper Balazs Megyeri and Pogon Szczecin forward Adam Gyurcso.
Hungary visits Germany in Gelsenkirchen for its last warmup match on Saturday and will make its Euro 2016 debut on June 14 against Austria in Bordeaux. Also in Group F are Iceland and Portugal.
Here is Hungary's squad in full:
GOALKEEPERS: Gabor Kiraly (Haladas), Denes Dibusz (Ferencvaros), Peter Gulacsi (Leipzig)
DEFENDERS: Attila Fiola (Puskas Academy), Barnabas Bese (MTK Budapest), Richard Guzmics (Wisla Krakow), Roland Juhasz (Videoton), Adam Lang (Videoton), Tamas Kadar (Lech Poznan), Mihaly Korhut (Debrecen)
MIDFIELDERS: Adam Pinter (Ferencvaros), Gergo Lovrencsics (Lech Poznan), Akos Elek (Diosgyor), Zoltan Gera (Ferencvaros), Adam Nagy (Ferencvaros), Laszlo Kleinheisler (Werden Bremen), Zoltan Stieber (Nuremberg)
FORWARDS: Balazs Dzsudzsak (Bursaspor), Adam Szalai (Hannover), Krisztian Nemeth (Al Gharafa), Nemanja Nikolics (Legia Warsaw), Tamas Priskin (Slovan Bratislava), Daniel Bode (Ferencvaros)
