The European Championship is over for Hungary striker Varga. He suffered a fracture under his eye against Scotland, causing consternation and concern among his teammates. However, his condition is stable.
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- While the Swiss national team played against Germany for the group win, the parallel Group A match between Hungary and Scotland (1:0) led to anxious minutes.
- Hungary's Barnabas Varga lay motionless after a collision. The game had to be interrupted for several minutes and Varga had to be treated on the pitch for a long time.
- The all-clear has since been given. Varga's condition is stable, he suffered a concussion and several fractures to his face.
- Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai criticized the procedures immediately after the incident. In his opinion, it took too long for the paramedics to arrive on the pitch and help Varga.
According to the Hungarian Football Association, striker Barnabas Varga is in a stable condition and is in hospital in Stuttgart. However, due to a fracture under his eye, the European Championship will be over for the 29-year-old attacker even if his team makes it to the round of 16 or beyond.
Coach Marco Rossi said this after the 1:0 in the last European Championship group game against Scotland. Varga had suffered a concussion and several fractures to his face and would most likely require surgery, according to another post by the association on Platform X on Monday night.
Varga fell in the penalty area scramble on Sunday in Stuttgart following a free kick and remained motionless on the pitch. His worried teammates immediately called for help and carefully moved him to the side, and he was eventually taken off the pitch on a stretcher with cloths to protect him from view. Hungary can still hope to progress to the knockout phase as one of the four best third-placed teams in the group.
Criticism from Szoboszlai: "We have to change something"
"It's better if I don't talk about it. I was one of the first to be there. And I was shocked myself. I tried to lay him on his side, which is actually the best thing to do in a situation like this. He couldn't breathe properly," reported Liverpool professional Dominik Szoboszlai in an interview on MagentaTV. The star player of the Hungarians was wearing the shirt of his teammate with the number 19.
Szoboszlai criticized the procedures immediately after the incident. In his opinion, it took too long for the paramedics to arrive on the pitch and help Varga. "I have no idea what the protocol is, whether people are not allowed to run onto the pitch when we need help. (...) We need to change something about that. We need to do it much faster," he said.
The stretcher was brought onto the pitch at walking pace. Szoboszlai therefore sprinted to the paramedics and joined other players in bringing the stretcher to Varga more quickly. "You could see that it was a huge problem. Everyone was running, I was running - things take seconds," said the Hungary captain. "It's not my decision, but we have to do something about it. We have to do it faster, much faster. Everyone knows that seconds make a difference."
Situation more serious than initially assumed
In the replays broadcast by the TV stations, the scene initially appeared to be a harmless and at best minor contact, but photos showed the force of the impact between Varga's head and the upper arm of Scottish goalkeeper Angus Gunn. The Ferencvaros Budapest attacker convulsed while still in the air and was apparently unable to move lying on his back.
After minutes of treatment behind a screen on the pitch, he was substituted in the 74th minute. Varga had scored Hungary's only goal of the tournament in the 3-1 defeat against Switzerland. His jersey with the number 19 was the center of attention during the celebrations after the final whistle.
