Barnabas Varga in a stable hospital following a fracture to his cheekbone during Hungary victory over Scotland
Hungary player Barnabas Varga is in stable condition in the hospital after suffering an injury to his cheekbone that required him to be removed from the field using an ambulance at the Euro 2024 game against Scotland. Varga 29, who is 29 years old, fought to shoot an aerial ball at Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn in the second-half in an attempt to make contact to Dominik Szoboszlai’s kick from the free.
By Matt Slater, Jacob Whitehead, Ali Rampling
Jun 23, 2024 11:20 PM
Hungary striker Barnabas Varga is stable in hospital after suffering a fractured cheekbone and being taken from the field on a stretcher during the Euro 2024 game against Scotland .
Varga 29, who is 29 years old, argued to play an aerial ball with Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn in the second half as he tried to get in touch with Dominik Szoboszlai‘s free kick. Gunn hit into the ball using his left hand and Varga’s head appeared strike the goalkeeper’s left arm.
The game was stopped for six minutes as Varga was treated on the field, and sheets hung around him, and they stayed up until he was taken off the field using an ambulance.
The Hungarian soccer federation then went on to announce that Varga was taken immediately to an emergency hospital in Stuttgart in which his health is described as being stable.
Hungary manager Marco Rossi later confirmed the diagnosis of a broken cheekbone. He said the player was unconscious for a short time while the back was scheduled to undergo surgery soon.
“I don’t know what happened,” Rossi stated. “All I could see was the collision with the goalkeeper or an opponent.
“It was a tense situation and that’s why VAR ruled out penalty. What the players stated to me is that Barni was not conscious and were extremely concerned about his health.”
Screens were constructed within Varga (Miguel Medina/AFP through Getty Images)
“Everyone was worried because the doctors arrived a bit late,” said the doctor. “I didn’t think they were aware that it was a risky situation. However, Barni isn’t in danger right now.
“He has a fracture here (pointing at the cheekbone) and will undergo surgery in the next couple of hours. But he’s still healthy. The most important factor is that he’s healthy.
“Of course, and for sure if we go through the competition he will not be any more a part of the team.”
Another announcement from Hungary stated it was “several bones” had been broken and Varga was expected to spend the night in a hospital.
“Several bones in Barnabas Varga’s face were broken during the collision during the match, and he also suffered a concussion,” they claimed on the news channel X.
“The Ferencvaros striker is most likely to undergo surgery. He is staying the night at the medical center in Stuttgart. The entire team is cheering him on.”
Varga’s teammates plan to visit him in the hospital on Monday early morning.
In the final minute in the game the referee Facundo Raul Figueroa immediately pulled the game off and medical personnel arrived on the field to attend to both players.
Varga was placed in a recovering position as his Hungary teammates urged medical personnel to step to the field of play.
A stretcher was used with a large number of clearly distraught Hungary players racing towards it, accelerating the speed at which it was presented before the man was greeted with applause by all the sections in the Stuttgart Arena.
The Striker Martin Adam was named his replacement.
Varga Barnabas arcaban tobb csont is eltort a merkozesen tortent utkozes soran tovabba agyrazkodast is szenvedett. Nagy valoszinuseggel mutet is the @Fradi_HU Csatarara. Az ejszakat a korhazban tolti Stuttgartban. Az egesz csapat szorit erte! #csakegyutt #magyarok #SCOHUN
— MLSZ (@MLSZhivatalos) June 23, 2024
The incident was inspected to determine if there was a penalty potential by the VAR. (VAR) Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez however no penalty was handed out.
Captain Szoboszlai The Liverpool midfielder later attributed the win to Varga while the winger Roland Sallai said his striker’s health is “the most important thing”.
“It was a terrible moment to see Barni like that but fortunately he is stable now,” Sallai stated. “I think he is probably going to have a minor operation but he’s OK and we cross our fingers for him.”
Endre Botka was a teammate of Varga on the international stage and in the country at Ferencvaros was involved in the incident.
“I was close to Barni during the incident,” Barni told reporters. “It was shocking, but luckily he is fine.”
“It’s all a bit of a blur,” Gunn told reporters after the incident following the game. “I believed I was required to show up and I did very well. It was hard.
“Hopefully the man is okay. I’m not able to remember very much about that incident.”
Hungary players raced to carry the stretcher and onto the fields (Marijan Murat/picture coalition through Getty Images)
Varga was a part of the beginning of the professional career Austria in Austria with SV Eberau, SV Mattersburg and SV Lafnitz. He relocated from Gyirmot in his home country of Hungary in the year 2020, before joining Paks in 2022.
After scoring the most goals with 26 goals during the 2022/23 Nemzeti Bajnoksag 1 season, He made the move to Ferencvaros in June 2023. He’s played forty appearances with Ferencvaros with 29 goals scored.
Varga has played 14 times for the national team. He been introduced in the month of March 2023 and scored seven goals. He’s played in every game for Hungary in Euro 2024, scoring against Switzerland in the opening game.
Hungary defeated Scotland 1-1 after Kevin Csoboth‘s winning goal at the end of 10 minutes of the second period stoppage. The team celebrated their victory with Varga’s number. 19 shirt.
The result saw Hungary finishing third overall in the Group A, and Scotland the bottom. Hungary is still able to make the final 16 as the best third team, depending on other results.
Additional report: Jacob Whitehead
(Top image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
