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It has been a long time between drinks for Hungary, a country of such decorated football history.
And one of their own will be making a little slice of history when they line up against Austria – the tracksuit pant-wearing goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly.
The Hungary gloveman will become the oldest player ever to feature at the European Championships, surpassing no less than Lothar Matthaus – and it is the story of the tournament already.
Hungary haven’t participated in a major tournament since 1986, but forget that, and let’s talk about Kiraly instead.
The 40-year-old, who will win his 104th cap if he plays against Austria, saved a penalty with his first touch in international football, way back in 1998.
Kiraly was playing at Hertha Berlin at the time, and it was in Germany where he discovered that wearing grey tracksuit pants suited him better than shorts.
He said recently: “I tried shorts during my spell in Germany but it didn’t suit me. The end result is more important than your look. I’m not a top model, my job is defending. It’s essentially a question of comfort. I’ve played on clay or grass that’s been frozen in winter.
“It makes your legs hurt when you fall so jogging bottoms seemed obvious. I always take a size above to facilitate movement.”
His oversized leg wear came to England in 2004, where he upstaged Crystal Palace club legend Julian Speroni to become first choice in the Eagles ill-fated Premier League return.
Kiraly became a cult-figure too, not just with the Palace fans, and it certainly wasn’t his fairly capable goalkeeping behind his popularity.
West Ham, Aston Villa, Burnley, Bayer Leverkusen, 1860 Munich and Fulham followed.
To say “he has a howler in him” is an understatement and it’s fair to say Fulham had no problem letting him return to Hungary, where he now plays for Haladas, the club where he started his career in 1993.
And now, 18 years on from his remarkable international debut, his grey tracksuit pants will grace a Euro 2016 group including Iceland and Portugal as well as Austria – a group from which the are every chance to progress.
One more thing to consider about the amazing career of Kiraly.
In November last year he won is 100th cap for Hungary – only one other player, Jozsef Boszick, of the famous team of the 1950s, has reached the century and he finished with 101 caps.
Boszick’s childhood friend, all time great Ferenc Puskas, won 85.
Meanwhile, Kiraly, a player who amounted to nothing more than a jovial figure of fun more famous for his legwear than his football, has become a record breaker in every sense, and it’s a story to admire.
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