CALLUM Styles’ Hungary missed out on a place in the semi-finals of the Nations League as they were beaten 2-0 by Italy in Budapest.
Marco Rossi’s side needed to avoid defeat to finish top of their group and qualify for the knockout stages for the competition, but some abysmal defending allowed Giacomo Raspadori to score the opener after 27 minutes before Federico Dimarco’s close-range finish sealed a win for the Azzuri in the second half.
Styles was once again named on the bench for the match, coming on at half-time for former Bristol City midfielder Ádám Nagy. The Barnsley loanee had a good chance to get his side back into the game with a free header from a tight angle in the 55th minute, but it was saved by PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Speaking after the defeat, Styles said: “I gave it my all, but we were up against a world-class goalkeeper. It would have been nice to get back into the match, but we were also unlucky. I want to be satisfied, but now I’m still disappointed, because we had a very good team and we were very close to success.”
Hungary did manage to secure second place in the group, finishing above both Germany and England.
??Callum Styles: Mindent beleadtam, de világszínvonalú kapussal álltunk szemben. Jó lett volna visszajönni a mérk?zésbe, de balszerencsénk is volt. Elégedett szeretnék lenni, de most még csalódott vagyok, mert nagyon jó csapat állt össze és nagyon közel álltunk a sikerhez.#HUNITA pic.twitter.com/XKkVybjUy3
— MLSZ (@MLSZhivatalos) September 26, 2022
George Saville’s Northern Ireland were relegated from Nations League C after their 3-1 loss against Greece in Athens. They needed to better Cyprus’ result, who were battered 5-1 by Kosovo, but Ian Baraclough’s men weren’t able to take advantage.
Saville was initially benched for the game but had to come on after just nine minutes when Stoke City’s Jordan Thompson pulled up with an injury.
Elsewhere, Charlie Cresswell was involved as England under-21’s beat Germany 3-1 at Bramall Lane. The Leeds United loanee was named on the bench, but he replaced Luke Thomas for the final 20 minutes of the match to help see out the win.
With no Millwall players taking part in this year’s World Cup, Gary Rowett will have his entire squad together until the Euro 2024 qualifiers begin in March 2023.
Photo: Millwall FC