Storck eager to play down Austria win ahead of Iceland clash

Hungary boss Bernd Storck was adamant his team would not be getting carried away by their win against Austria – a result even he admitted was a surprise.

Goals from Adam Szalai and Zoltan Stieber saw Storck’s men east past the favoured Austrians at Euro 2016 on Tuesday to put them in pole position to qualify from Group F.

Another victory at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday against Iceland, who ground out a deserved point against Portugal in their opener, will secure Hungary’s passage into the knockout stages but Storck is urging caution.

He said: “I think the euphoria from the first victory is still inside of us. Of course we were all hoping for this but we never really imagined winning the first game against Austria so the euphoria is immense.

“We won the three points but now we need to focus on our next opponents. 

“Iceland are a good team, for me it wasn’t a surprise what they did against Portugal because we saw what they did in qualifying. They were in a group with Netherlands, Turkey and Czech Republic and they did well.

“It will be a difficult game. Tactically it will be a different game than against Austria, they play a 4-4-2 and have lots of experienced players.”

Storck will be forced into one alteration to his starting XI with defender Attila Fiola injured but he hinted there may be other changes.

“I have ideas,” he added. “I changed the team in qualifying and I also have the feeling that I need to give other players an opportunity so I am giving myself a choice tomorrow.”

Storck insists Portugal remain favourites to win the group, despite his men sitting top.

“Yes, of course, nothing has changed. Portugal are still the favourites but we are fighting and will put everything on the line,” he said.

“After such a win against Austria there are high expectations, everyone is now hoping it will continue this way but we need to remain humble, stick to our objectives and get as many points as we can.

“We need to forget the first game, the only thing we are interested in is the next match.”

Striker Szalai has great respect for Iceland and is expecting a tough test against Lars Lagerback’s men.

“They are a good team, they have made a lot of progress and I think we will need even more support from our fans,” he said.

“The first step has been taken [against Austria] and we would like another positive result but we will need all our strength to continue to move forward.”