Dominik Szoboszlai struggled during his performance so far as captain in Hungary’s 3-1 defeat by Switzerland, but he was still on top of the assist.
At 23 years, seven months and 21 days, Soboszlai is now the youngest player in history to captain a team at the European Championships.
The Liverpool midfielder wore the armband for Hungary in their Group A opener against Switzerland, having lost just once in their previous 16 games since taking over as captain in 2022.
He did so in his natural attacking role, supporting striker Barnabas Varga, although a £65million deal from RB Leipzig looked far from the best.
During the tiring game in Cologne, there were hints that Szoboszlai was still feeling the effects of the injury sustained in the last friendly against Israel.
Hungary pulls one back?
A few minutes after heading wide, Barnabás Varga makes up for his miss ?
GAME ON!#Euro2024 | #HUNvSUI pic.twitter.com/m0QA5CHWxm
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 15, 2024
Despite this, he still managed to lay on a sublime assist as Hungary fought back from 2-0 down at half-time.
Picking up the ball on the left flank, Soboszlai cut onto his stronger right foot and slotted the ball into the penalty area for Varga to head home.
Unfortunately, that goal was not enough to inspire a meaningful fightback and Breel Embolo added first-half efforts from Kwadwo Duah and Michel Aebischer to seal victory for Switzerland later on.
Statistics via FotMob, which showed that he created the most joint chances for his team (two) and won all four of his duels on the floor, indicated that Szoboszlai was among Hungary’s best players.
An eye test proved otherwise and the 23-year-old brought his frustrating form from Liverpool to the Euros.
Having suffered defeat in the first leg, Hungary now face a battle to reach the knockout stages of this summer’s tournament.
Elsewhere in Group A, hosts Germany thrashed Andy Robertson’s Scotland 5-1 on Friday night to make themselves favorites to progress alongside Switzerland.
Next up for Hungary is a clash with Germany on Wednesday at 5pm, with Scotland v Switzerland kicking off at 8pm.
