Our prediction for this match:
Buoyed by the historical triumph over Portugal, Serbia will look to give fans yet another reason for celebration when they face Hungary in a friendly at Puskas Arena. The White Eagles did well to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and, no doubt, head coach Dragan Stojkovic will use upcoming warm-up games to test as many players as possible.
Star players Dusan Tadic (Ajax), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus), and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio) all made the cut, and, as a result, the bookies see Serbia as favourites to win Thursday’s game. Callum Styles has received his first call-up for Hungary, with localized players Orban, Nego, and Martin making the cut as well. Anyhow, Serbia are more of a team than Hungary, who missed out on a place at the showpiece tournament in Qatar. In their last meeting on the international stage the two teams played out a 1-1 draw.
Highlighted Player (Willi Orban):
Willi Orban was born on 3 November, 1992 in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Orban plays as a centre back, but he can operate as a defensive midfielder as well. The 185-cm-tall footballer is a product of Kaiserslautern’s youth academy and he played 35 league games for the reserve team between 2011 and 2013.
Orban made his debut for the first team in 2011, against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. The Kaiserslautern footballer made 68 league appearances for Kaiserslautern, scoring 7 goals for the German outfit between 2011 and 2015, but in May 2015 he signed a contract with Leipzig. Kaislerslautern fans were very angry with the defender when he decided to join die Bullen.
Willi Orban has two caps for Germany U21, but he has yet to make his debut for the senior team. He has a contract with Leipzig, which expires on 30 June, 2019. Willi Orban has a dual citizenship (Germany, Hungary).
Highlighted Team (Serbia):
Serbia have been playing as an independent nation since 2006. The Serbs made it to the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals and despite defeating star-studded Germany in the group stages of the showpiece tournament in South Africa, they eventually failed to book their place in the last 16. The Eagles, though, failed to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil as they experienced all sorts of problems in their qualifying group.
A number of top-class footballers played for Serbia and former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the Serbian national team. Vidic scored two goals in 56 appearances for Serbia and he announced his retirement from the national team on 24 October, 2011.
The Eagles play their home game at Stadion Rajko Mitic and it has to be noted that they defeated Czech Republic 3-1 in their first international game under the name of Serbia. Serbia play their home games in red shirts and red shorts, while the colour of their away kit is white.