Hungary Defeats Denmark in First Game after the Gera Era

Despite the game being meaningless except for the most remote mathematical possibilities, Hungary nonetheless chalked up a 1-0 victory against Group 1 leaders Denmark in yet another World Cup qualifying campaign where they fell short. The more significant part, however, was that team captain and Fulham midfielder Zoltán Gera (left), after not even being selected as a substitute, informed manager Erwin Koeman (right) that he would catch the first flight out of Copenhagen, and that he should not be considered a member of the national team for the foreseeable future, sportgeza.hu reports.

Gera had been a regular part of the team since 2002 and its captain since 2004, in addition to being arguably its best player. Relations between Gera and Koeman haven’t been the best lately, and the move by Gera could be taken as his attempt to try and get the manager booted. If that indeed was the plan, the victory over Denmark will make that unlikely for the time being. Gera stated that he was already more or less planning to retire from international play after last night’s match, but that Koeman’s decision not to include him as a substitute was the reason he announced his intentions when he did.

Considering how well the youth team is doing (they’ll be playing for the bronze in the U20 World Cup tomorrow against Costa Rica), and also taking into account that a Gera-less team beat the group leading Danes, there’s a lot to suggest that the post-Gera Era will be more exciting.