During the training camp in Austria we played our first training match against FC Trinity Zlín from the Czech Republic. Earlier, we had confidently won against NB II Mezőkövesd and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Israel, so we were looking forward to the meeting with confidence. We started with Dibusz - Cadu, Ötvös, Raemaekers, Szalai, O'Dowda - Tóth, Abu Fani, Levi - Varga B., Joseph. Among the summer signings, Cadu, Ötvös, Raemaekers and O'Dowda were in defence, Levi in attack. Of our 30-man squad from Lienz, Cissé, Gartenmann and Maiga were “excused” for this meeting.

First half

The newcomers to the Czech top flight, Zlín in blue and yellow, started the meeting in a pleasant temperature but windy football ground at the Dolomitenstadion in Lienz. The main stand was packed with fans, mainly locals, who saw Zlín threaten with a shot in the first 5 minutes and then Dibusz had to collect a ball bouncing back and forth from a corner kick. By the end of the first quarter of an hour, the game was more evenly matched in the box, but no major scoring chances were created by either side. After a Polásek shot and a Dibusz save, Abu Fani launched Varga, but Belaník's goalkeeper saved well. In the 25th minute, the Czechs led a dangerous attack on the right, but Ötvös crossed well. After the corner we had a free kick. On the far side, Abu Fani's pass was played in by Levi to Jopseh, who tried to play Tóth in the middle, but was well cleared by a Zlín defender. In the 30th minute the Czechs made a forced change in defence. In the 33rd minute, shots from Abu Fani and Joseph were saved by the Czech goalkeeper. In the 38th minute, Abu Fani's fight resulted in Varga Barna getting a shot wide from 14 metres, but Belaník was on the spot again. At the end of the counter-attack Raemaekers narrowly put the ball back to Dibusz, who bombed the ball off the onrushing attackers. The biggest chance of the first half was missed in the 43rd minute: Tóth made a superb launch to Joseph on the left, who ran down to the baseline, but his powerful cross slipped past two oncoming players and was cleared by a defender. shortly afterwards Varga was in position, but he was pushed out of the baseline by the Zlín team. The first half ended scoreless.

Second half

Robbie Keane made four changes at the break, with Abu Fani, Raemaekers, O'Dowda and Varga Barna replaced by Botka, Makreckis, Pesic and Keita. Botka was immediately in a position in the 48th minute, but shot the ball from 13 metres into the sky. In the 60th minute, the remaining members of the starting line-up were replaced, and shortly afterwards the Czechs also made a substitution. The wind refused to let up, but it seemed to be holding both sides back equally. In the 68th minute, Sevikjan's free kick was cleared and Baráth fired a follow-up towards the goal, but Belaník made a great save. A minute later, Pesic disappeared inside the penalty area in the clutch of his defender and the referee gave us a penalty: Kristoffer Zachariassen converted the spot kick after he had shot the ball into the bottom right corner (1-0). In the 82nd minute, Endre Botka made a crucial tackle on the edge of our penalty area and Makreckis blocked a shot. It was noticeable that the Czechs were looking for an equaliser at the end of the game. In the 85th minute, a dangerous bounced ball almost found the back of the net, but Barna Nagy saved from the goal line past the already beaten Gróf. With great defending we survived the last minutes and won our first match in Lienz 1-0.

Our team will finish the training camp in Austria next Tuesday, 15 July, with an 11:30 kick-off against German second division Karlsruher SC ahead of the upcoming Champions League qualifier.