The Italian coach talks about his life in Budapest: “In Italy they didn’t give me an opportunity, here I experienced two European Championships. I’ll tell you about Mancini, when I was a Bielsa player and about Varga, who worked in the factory and is now in the national team”
Journalist
December 31st – 3.13pm – MILANO
We are republishing the interviews most appreciated by readers of the Gazzetta dello Sport in 2025. The one with Marco Rossi was published on 22 September.
Marco Rossi had chosen Hungary to invest in catering and found himself feasting together with the legends of the ‘Golden Team’. “In June 2022 we scored four goals against England in Wolverhampton. A day to tell to our children, grandchildren and anyone who wants to listen. Hungary hadn’t conquered the island since the 6-3 at Wembley in 1953”. From Puskas to Rossi. “I thought about how life and destiny are linked. My grandfather spent the afternoons telling me about Grande Torino and the Hungarian Golden Team. In 2011 I flew to Budapest to focus on catering. Italian football had disappointed me, then my wife and a friend convinced me to give the sports director of Honved a call. I had never begged anyone in my life, believe me. Almost 15 years have passed and I’m still here. Since 2018 I lead the national team. This country saved me.”
Rossi, let’s start from here. In what sense did he save her?
“It gave me the chance to work, Italy didn’t. Maybe also due to my own responsibility: I never knew how to sell myself. I had experienced an absurd season with Cavese, the fans put pressure on the president to kick me out. From there I spent a year and a half of nightmare.”
They asked her for money to coach. How many times has this happened?
“Once to lead a Tuscan Serie C team, another in Basilicata.”
“That I’m not a coach as a hobby. As a footballer I’ve never earned crazy amounts of money. At Samp I drove around in a Lancia. I didn’t squander the money, but from January 2011 to June 2012, it was tough. I experienced a moment of intimate difficulty where I thought about quitting to become an accountant. My brother had a firm in Veneto, I should have attended a course in Turin, lived with my mother and started a new life at almost fifty.”
How did the trip to Hungary come about?
“Thanks to a friend. He has three rooms, I thought about investing and making ends meet. I had sold my house in Brescia, but I missed football.”
Destiny. Her grandfather told her about Puskas.
“This is life. At the beginning I even earned very little. In 2016-17, the year in which I won the championship with Honved Budapest, I was the lowest paid coach in the championship. Hungary gave me back my dignity. Today I almost feel Hungarian.”
And how’s it going with the language?
“It’s hard. I know how to say some sentences, but I speak in English and Spanish with the players. I played at Club America, in Mexico, so I know. The coach was Marcelo Bielsa. His office was full of videotapes, notes, pieces of paper. He stayed there all day studying.”
Why was I the best player in Fifa ’97? I think it’s a bug in the game. And then I played Super Mario…
Marco Rossicoach Hungary
What kind of footballer was he?
“A good defender. As a kid I was quick and technical, then in a year I grew 18 centimeters and changed my style of play. Humble family, then: stay-at-home mum, dad with a double job. He went out at six and came back in the evening.”
“Many, but I would mention Mancini. That year Samp took Platt, Gullit, Evani and me, the poorest of all. Jokes aside: Roberto picked me up from the hotel to show me the city.”
Curiosity: but why was he the best footballer in the game on Fifa 97?
“I never understood it, maybe a bug. I always played Super Mario Bros.”
“No one. I made up for it by coaching Hungary. And I don’t miss Italy.”
Where were you when the federation called you?
“On the ring road, in Naples. I didn’t think I would last this long.”
Are the two Europeans a pride?
“A miracle, if anything. I will have given dozens of players their debut. The scouting we do is immense. Everyone knows Szoboszlai and Kerkez, but the real success is being able to make the most of Varga, who played in the fourth series and worked in the factory.”
The greatest satisfaction?
“Being the second most present coach. I also add the Puskas Arena choir: one corner sang ‘Marco’, the other ‘Rossi’”.
Have you ever received offers from Italy?
“Never. But I refused the Premier and Bundesliga.”
What is your relationship with Viktor Orban?
“Excellent. We meet every now and then, he’s a big fan. Sometimes he wrote to me to find out what the lineup was or which players I would call up. But I have maximum freedom in everything.”
You have been criticized for choosing to coach in Hungary.
“After the last European Championship I received insults on social media. They threatened me and my family with all kinds of criticism. But it doesn’t matter to me. I am grateful to Hungary because it saved my life. And in Budapest I live well: I live in the centre, there is safety. In other cities like London, Paris or Milan when night falls you have to escape.”
“Bringing Hungary to the World Cup after 40 years. If I were to succeed I could leave. I would be remembered forever. And my grandfather would be proud of it.”
Hungary finished third in their qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup, behind Portugal and Ireland. Marco Rossi will have to try again for 2030.
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