Thanks to the victory over Panathinaikos, our U17s went into their final Puskás-Suzuki Cup group match with a chance of winning Group B. The size of the task, however, was clear from the identity of our opponents: Juventus, winners of last year's tournament, with our former academy player Mátyás Jakab also featuring and even captaining the Turin side against us. Viktor Petrók's team faced a difficult task, as we would have needed to beat the Italians by at least two goals to claim first place.
In the first half our only attempt of note was a Bokor shot. Although the Italians did not dominate the opening 30 minutes, they still took the lead in the 18th minute: Yeboah raced down the right, Giambavicchio may have completely missed his kick, but Basile did us no such favour, the Italian finding the bottom-left corner superbly (1–0), meaning we fell behind in our third group match as well.
After the break, Balogh produced a superb save from Urbano's volley, brilliantly stopping a shot heading toward the bottom-left corner. Then in the 53rd minute we were awarded a penalty for handball after a cross, and Tamás Somogyi, just as against Panathinaikos, converted with great confidence (1–1). In stoppage time Érsek headed the ball back toward Russnák arriving at the far post, but Jakab produced a tremendous save to preserve the draw. Neither team could be entirely pleased with the final result: we will play for fifth place and Juventus for seventh on the final day.
PUSKÁS SUZUKI CUP 2026 – ROUND 3
Juventus FC (Italy)–BUDAPEST HONVÉD 1–1 (1–0)
Felcsút, 300 spectators. Referee: Róbert Nagy
Juventus: Jakab – Yeboah, Demichelis, Rocchetti, Del Fabro (Carfora, 44.), Erdozain, Giambavicchio (Banchio, 44.), Basile, Marchisio (Baba Hay, 48.), Urbano, Przytarski. Head coach: Claudio Grauso
HONVÉD : Balogh B. – Ferencz (Schwarcz, 21.), Russnák, Csörgő, Somogyi, Szanka (Szőke, – at half-time), Érsek, Kovács Á. (Varga Z. – at half-time), Bokor, Varga-Sós, Csákány (Balaskó, 68.). Head coach: Petrók Viktor
Goals: Basile (18.), and Somogyi T. (54. – penalty).
