Victories are not the goal of the Hungarian national team at the World Ice Hockey Championships in Pori.
Márton Herceg is Hungary’s goalkeeper at the World Ice Hockey Championships. Harriet kallio / Finnish Iceball Federation
Hungary’s 20-year-old goalkeeper Marton Herceg has not despaired, even though he has already scored a total of 53 goals at the World Ice Hockey Championships in Pori.
On Monday, Sweden first beat Hungary with an all-time World Cup record score of 34–0, and on Tuesday it was Finland’s turn to crush Hungary with 19–0.
– Tough game again, but luckily Finland took the match a little more calmly than Sweden. Tactically, Sweden and Finland are on the same level, but Sweden clearly played more aggressively, Herceg said after the match.
– Of course we tried our best in both games, but now against Finland our defensive game was clearly better. We are looking for just such experiences from the World Cup for ourselves. Despite everything, this was again a good experience.
“I’m used to it”
Herceg prepares to block the Finnish player’s shot. Harriet Kallio / Finland’s iceball association
Herceg was a little laughed at when his need to pick up the ball from his own goal came up.
– I shouldn’t admit it, but I’m a bit used to picking up the ball from our net. However, you can learn from everything.
Herceg already participated in the previous World Championships in Lidköping in Sweden last year.
– Most of us from the Hungarian World Cup team also play ice hockey. I myself play ice hockey in the Hungarian second league. I have only been playing ice ball for 2-3 years. I started with rink ice ball. I am also a goalie in ice hockey.
The difference between the species is clear.
– In iceball, the goal is of course much bigger. In ice hockey, I can play much more on the ground with the so-called butterfly style. In ice ball, you have to move in a completely different way than in ice hockey.
There is only one field in Hungary where you can play this normal ice ball. and even there only in winter. According to Herceg, there are only about fifty active ice ball players in Hungary.
– Winter in Hungary is of course quite mild, but it is currently colder in Budapest than here in Pori.
Out of my own pocket
Herceg is a civilian studying economics in his first year at university.
Herceg has had to pay almost a thousand euros out of his own pocket for the 8-9 day trip to Porin.
– This is certainly worth the money. It’s really nice here. Not everyone can have this kind of experience. I am also in Finland for the first time.
Although Finnish and Hungarian are distant relatives, Herceg does not understand Finnish.
– The Finnish language sounds a lot like Hungarian, even if I don’t understand the words.
According to Herceg, Hungary still has its most important games ahead of it in the World Cup.
– Our goal is to beat the United States on Wednesday and the Netherlands on Thursday. Unfortunately, Finland, Sweden and also Norway are still far too tough opponents for us.