Hungary without Banhidi, Sipos is the new captain!

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

The biggest star of Hungarian national team, line-player Bence Banhidi will miss the EHF EURO 2026 due injury.

Chema Rodríguez, head coach of the men’s national team, shared his thoughts ahead of the European Championship opener.

• On Wednesday we set off for the European Championship, traveling via Copenhagen to Kristianstad, Sweden, where our group matches will be played. First and foremost: after Zsolt Krakovszki’s unfortunate ankle injury, Bence Bánhidi also couldn’t travel with us to the tournament today. Unfortunately, his knee problem hasn’t improved enough for him to make the trip. Could he join us later during the EURO? Who knows? The player’s health comes first, and Bence still needs time. He did everything in recent weeks to be ready for the start, fought hard, worked as an example for everyone—but that’s life, and we have to accept it. Needless to say, this affects our plans. Like the MKSZ board, I see reaching the quarter-finals as an ambitious and motivating goal, but achieving it—starting with getting through the group matches successfully—will obviously be harder without Bence.

In his absence, “Sipi,” Adrián Sipos, will be our captain, and Patrik Ligetvári will be his deputy. Of course, we prepared for this scenario as well—this is why Tamás Papp joined the squad earlier, and we also have Miki Rosta—but overall I look at the team as a whole, not position by position. The 20 players traveling must deliver success together. I believe we can show on the court what we have in our locker—along with the new things we’ve been working on. We have to stick together, and I know the guys will bring everything out of themselves and do everything for success.

The opener against Poland will be extremely tough. My friend Jota González’s team is playing a new style, and in any tournament the opening match is crucial. That’s why we’ve been preparing very hard for Poland—essentially since autumn—and we aren’t looking beyond that at all.

In Sweden, our first tasks will be settling in and getting to know the arena, and then on Friday evening we begin.

Before the start of the EURO, let me return for a moment to the match against Romania in Győr—not so much because of our play, although last Friday’s win and the next day’s closed-doors win and practice always help, but because the halftime will remain a lifelong memory for me. We said goodbye to Gabi Ancsin, Zsolti Balogh, and Máté Lékai—players who served the national team for many years with fantastic performances and personalities. It was a wonderful moment when, at the end of the farewell, we went over to them. For me it was never a question that we would watch it and be there with them. Maybe it’s already boring to hear that the national team is a family, but I always emphasize it, because nothing is more important than that. The guys won’t be with us on the court anymore, but on the one hand I know how much they’ll be cheering for us, and on the other hand, off the court, the friendship and affection will of course remain.

Maybe I was a bit sentimental, but that’s not a problem. We won’t lose sight of our objectives—right now the only thing that matters is that we beat Poland on Friday night. Nothing is more important than that! I hope people at home in front of their screens—and maybe a few in Sweden as well—will support us. We’ll need every bit of help we can get. Go, Hungary!