Our U17 team could not return home with all three points from the last match of the year due to a penalty awarded against us in the 98th minute. Head coach Szilárd Mitra also reflects on the entire autumn season.

Our U17 team could not return home with all three points from the last match of the year due to a penalty awarded against us in the 98th minute. Head coach Szilárd Mitra also reflects on the entire autumn season.

"I cannot say we played a good match, yet we still had more and clearer chances. Had we converted them, we could have closed the game.
I could highlight 4–5 players, but with the rest of the team I sensed fatigue — not so much physical as mental. I felt that we adapted to the opponent’s rhythm, became too comfortable, and the result was the penalty awarded in the 98th minute.

About the penalty, I can only say that in my opinion it was ridiculous — but that is out of our hands, and we must slowly get used to the fact that referees will never favour us, or sometimes even be fair. Putting refereeing aside, this match was on us: it was in our hands, and we could have finished it earlier. In the end, the only ones responsible are we ourselves — if we had led by 2–3 goals, such a penalty wouldn’t have mattered.

Regarding the autumn season that has just ended, it was a very difficult half-year, during which we worked a lot with the boys both individually and as a team. I can evaluate this period positively, because we managed to build a strong, competitive team that produced pleasant surprises against tough opponents. And perhaps even more importantly, we tried to play a combinative, constructive style of football. Since July, every player has improved relative to his own level!

Personally, I am not satisfied with the results, because we could have achieved much more. I felt that in certain matches the boys underestimated the opponent, and we consistently paid the price for that.

Finally, congratulations to the boys and to the entire coaching staff — we managed to build this together!"

R. A.