For the Hungary national team with László Kleinheisler in the starting XI, it was the perfect start to the European Championship. Hungary beat rivals Austria 2-0 with two second-half goals. Kleinheisler assisted Adam Szalai fantastically in scoring the first goal, while Zlatko Junuzovic was unfortunately forced off through injury after an hour.
With the best part of an hour gone, László Kleinheisler made his mark on the game. After receiving the ball from teammate Adam Szalai and immaculately sliding it back into the striker’s path, the Werder man ran off to celebrate his team taking an unexpected yet deserved lead. In the 79th minute, when the little Hungarian was brought off and given a well-deserved standing ovation from his fellow countrymen behind the goal, he had more than just an assist to show for his European Championship debut. Kleinheisler’s all-round performance was impressive: his nimble footwork and hard work in and around the Austrian defence made the 22-year-old one of the most noticeable players on the pitch, and unsurprisingly earned him the Man of the Match award.
While Hungary celebrated their perfect start to the tournament, Austria mourned a real blow to their chances of reaching the last 16. For Zlatko Junuzovic, the defeat was twice as painful: in the 59th minute, Werder’s set-piece specialist was brought off with an injury picked up in a fifty-fifty challenge after only a quarter of an hour.
