A sickening collision saw Hungary’s Barnabas Varga knocked unconscious before he was taken off on a stretcher leaving his captain Dominik Szoboszlai visibly emotional
Andy Robertson consoled Liverpool team-mate Dominik Szoboszlai at full-time despite Scotland ’s Euro 2024 heartbreak.
The Tartan Army skipper hugged Hungary captain Szoboszlai after both were emotionally moved by a serious injury to Barnabas Vargas in the Group A game. Vargas was seriously hurt in a sickening collision in the second half of the tie and medics rushed on to help before blankets were put up to screen the player from the view of the fans.
Szoboszlai, the youngest captain in Euros history, was visibly emotional as he urged medics onto the pitch. Scotland were harshly not given a late penalty in the clash which Hungary won 1-0 thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Kevin Csoboth.
But despite tempers flaring during the game, Robertson was happy to hug team-mate Szobozlai at the final whistle. Scotland keeper Angus Gunn admitted the second half clash with Varga was still ‘a blur’ after the game.
He said: “It was painful. I hope the guy is alright. I can’t really remember too much about it, to be honest. It was a bit of a blur, I came for the ball and thought I did well. I hope he’s OK.”
Hungary issued a statement after the game confirming Vargas had broken several bones in his face which required surgery as well as suffering a concussion. Manager Marco Rossi admitted Vargas would play no further part at Euro 2024.
Szoboszlai was angry at the slow response from medics and said: “It looked bad, it was bad, he felt bad. I don’t really know the [medical] protocol or how it works but if our doctors say we need someone immediately to help, then I don’t think they should walk.
Szoboszlai of Hungary looks emotional following the collision involving Barnabas Varga
“It’s not my decision, but I think we need to change something. Even if somebody is on the ground, and you see that it was a big [collision], then just go on [the pitch].
“Even if the referee is saying don’t go on. Just go on. And if you see it’s nothing serious, then you can just go down and it’s finished. Seconds can help a lot.”
Meanwhile, Robertson was left to lick the wounds of Scotland’s 12th exit from a tournament in the first-round stage.
He said: “It’ll take a long time to get over this one. All the lads are absolutely gutted.
“It’s up to us to pick them up. It’ll be slowly and surely. But what I will say is thank you to the country because we felt everyone behind us.
“We knew the excitement back home and we’re sorry for letting you down. We gave it everything. We knew we had to win this game, both teams had to win, and they have hit us on the counterattack obviously.
“We have had a chance there and it could have gone either way. That’s football, that’s how it goes. We had a lot of possession first half without doing anything with it.
“We controlled the game, passed the ball really well, we just had to find that cutting edge. We knew there would be a point in the game where we had to go for it.
“We bring on the players we had on the bench to go for it that bit more – Armstrong, Christie, Shankland – and we did go for it. But we got sucker punched at the end.
“A draw wasn’t going to be enough realistically – both teams had to go for it and unfortunately one of us had to lose.”
Asked if he believes the squad can regroup for the next qualifying campaign for the World Cup in 2026, Robertson said: “That’s what we have to do but that’s not for tonight.
“That’s what we have to hope for in the future. Tonight is going to hurt for a long time. We have to get over this. It’s a tough one. In international football sometimes you lose players but tonight is devastating, there’s no buttering it up.”
