STUTTGART, Germany – Hungary coach Marco Rossi said Germany was the better side in their 2-0 loss to the Euro 2024 hosts, but he railed against some refereeing decisions that have left his side’s hopes of progressing at the tournament hanging by a thread.
Jamal Musiala’s opening goal was immediately preceded by a clash between Ilkay Gundogan and Hungary’s Willi Orban, but despite protests from the Hungarian players, Dutch referee Danny Makkelie let play go on and the Germans took the lead.
“The referee used a double standard, because in the first half the referee allowed a goal after a push on Orban, and in the second half in a similar situation with (Germany’s Robert) Andrich, the referee whistled the foul,” Rossi told reporters.
“So we need to use just one standard, not a double standard. From my perspective Germany would have won anyway, they’re stronger than us and they would have won anyway, but the referee was the worst on the pitch. Germany didn’t need help from the referee, especially against a team like Hungary,” he added.
After a 3-1 loss to Switzerland in their opening Group A game, goals from Musiala and Gundogan leave the Hungarians needing a win in their final group game against Scotland to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stage.
“We are not mathematically out of the Euros, and in the final game, we’ll try everything to win,” Rossi said.
“We are expecting another kind of match (against the Scots), and we will prepare of course for the tactical aspects of the next and last match, but the main thing, the most important I think, is to give maximum effort on the pitch,” he added.
