Hungarian assistant national coach ill in match against Orange, stable condition

The Nations League match between the Netherlands and Hungary was stopped in the eighth minute due to a medical emergency on the Hungarian reserve bench. There, the assistant national coach Adam Szalai was suddenly sick on the ground. His condition is now stable, the Hungarian Football Association reports.

Shortly before midnight, 36-year-old Szalai made himself heard on social media. “Thank you for the many messages, I’m doing well,” he wrote in Hungary on his Instagram.

At first there was a big shock in the Arena Johan Cruijff. Reserve players and staff from both teams immediately formed a circle around the victim, so that he was hidden from public view.

After treatment by medics, Szalai was taken away on a stretcher to be beaten about ten minutes later. Szalai was conscious and taken to hospital for further treatment.

Szalai is the vice-captain of the Hungarian team and she has only been the national coach this year. With 86 international matches and 26 goals, he is one of the best Hungarian footballers in recent years. Szalai played for a long time in the German Bundesliga, for Mainz, Schalke 04 and Hoffenheim, among others.

The Hungarian players indicated to referee Jesús Gil Manzano that they could continue playing and the match was restarted. The Netherlands eventually won 4-0.