STUTTGART – Hungary forward Barnabás Varga was in hospital in stable condition after a serious-looking injury at his team's final group match at the European Championship on Sunday.
Varga will likely undergo surgery after fracturing several bones in his face. The 29-year-old also has concussion and will take no part in the rest of Euro 2024 should Hungary advance to the round of 16 as one of the four best third-place teams.
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The Group A game against Scotland was halted for nearly 10 minutes so Varga could get treatment after colliding with opposing goalkeeper Angus Gunn midway through the second half.
Varga's teammates held up blankets to shield the player as he was tended to by medical staff, while everyone looked on in concern.
Both sets of fans applauded when Varga was stretchered off.
“Several bones in Barnabás Varga’s face were broken during the collision during the match, and he also suffered a concussion,” the Hungarian soccer federation wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after the match.
“The Ferencváros striker is most likely to undergo surgery. He spends the night in the hospital in Stuttgart. The whole team is rooting for him!”
Hungary snatched a 1-0 win, with a dramatic stoppage-time goal from substitute Kevin Csoboth.
“It was terrible. Was a terrible moment to see Barnabás like that,” Hungary midfielder Roland Sallai said.
“Of course, we were fighting for him in the remaining 15-20 minutes, and we would have liked to win for him and we were very happy we could achieve that. And yes, this we dedicate to him.”
As Varga was getting treatment, no one in the stadium and watching on television had any real idea of what was happening and the extent of his injury — just that he was being treated by medics, who had been frantically called onto the field by his teammates.
The scenes in Stuttgart had echoes of an even more serious incident at the last European Championship, when Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen after suffering a cardiac arrest while playing in his team's opener against Finland.
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AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024