Hungary boss hopes Ádám silences internet trolls

Hungary striker Martin Ádám scoring at the European Championship would be the perfect response to negative comments online about his large frame, manager Marco Rossi said on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old came on late in Hungary’s opening Euro 2024 Group A defeat by Switzerland, with people on social media highlighting the appearance of the long-bearded 6-feet-3-inch player, who weighs around 86 kilograms (190 pounds).

Ádám, nicknamed the “Hungarian Viking,” said he usually laughed off comments about his build, but his manager Rossi said personal attacks were unacceptable.

“We see the pictures or photographs [memes], the idiots [who] are at the keyboard [or] bravely at their computer — as long as it’s that, it’s acceptable because we cannot control the minds of these people,” the Italian told a press conference.

“But when on blogs people offend the players, well that’s unacceptable. That’s disrespectful. So it’s very unpleasant what happened to him. His body, build is what it is since his birth, so I truly hope he will score at this European Championship. That would be very rewarding and satisfying for him.

“But I think he was unaffected because he’s an exceptional lad and we are very happy to have him with us.”

Ádám, who has 23 caps for his country, can add to his three-goal tally for the team when they take on Germany on Wednesday where they need at least a point to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stage.

“We beat them [Germany] in 2022, so I’m sure it will be an extra motivation for them,” Ádám said on Tuesday. “They’ll be thinking: ‘Not again.’ But it’s clear from the first game that this Germany side is a completely different proposition to what they were back then or even last year.”

Ádám was the top scorer in the Hungarian top-flight in the 2021-22 season with 31 goals when playing for Paks before he moved to Korean side Ulsan Hyundai.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this story.