The DVSC-Rapid return match of the 3^rd qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League started in an unforgettable atmosphere, almost with a full house at Nagyerdei Stadium. János Ferenczi was still out of the squad because of his injury and our line-up was the same as it was in Vienna.

After the 0-0 draw of the first-leg match, the opponent started with an attacking play and in the 3^rd minute, Burstaller headed just over the goal from 9 meters. DVSC tried to stay calm and play their own style. Rapid dominated the game and in the 15^th minute, they even took the lead: after a lost ball, Seidl stepped out, broke away in clear-cut chance and confidently shot into the goal from 10 meters (0-1).

Loki tried to react on the conceded goal, in the 23^rd minute, Joao Oliveira shot wide off the goal from 14 meters. The match became more equal, there was a tough fight on the pitch and the Austrians even got 4 yellow cards. In the 32^nd minute, after the free-kick of Balázs Dzsudzsák, Dorian Babunski scored from close-range but it was an offside. In the final minutes of the first half, Rapid scored for the second time in the 43^rd minute, when after a left-sided attack, the ball bounced off Oleksandr Romanchuk and found its way into the net (0-2).

In the second half, Brandon Domingues came on as a substitute and Loki tried to do its best. We were leading attacks and possessing the ball, we put the pressure on Rapid, still, the opponent scored: in the 51^st minute, after a quick counterattack, Grüll dribbled even Balázs Megyeri and slid the ball into the goal (0-3).

Thus, the hope of qualifying to the next round was lost, and in the remaining time, DVSC aimed to finish the match in a nice way. Our team was fighting honestly (meanwhile, Alexandros Kyziridis, then Nimród Baranyai, Donát Bárány and at the very end, Antonio Mance also came on as a substitute), we had some smaller chances but were not able to compensate. Moreover, in the 72^nd minute, Burgstaller capitalized on a rebound, further increasing the lead of Rapid (0-4). Bajic, who came on as a substitute in the 90^th minute, scored one more goal and that’s how the match ended (0-5).

Rapid Wien qualified to the next round, with an aggregate score of 5-0. The next match of DVSC will be against Kisvárda at Nagyerdei Stadium, starting at 8:15 pm. on Monday.

According to the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: Congratulations to Rapid, they were the better team today and deserved to qualify to the next round, I wish them good luck. I would like to say thanks for the fans, I know that it is not easy for them as well and I am sorry because of the result. It is a difficult and painful evening for us but we have to deal with this situation. Our current goal is to stick together and this will also serve as a test of how we react to the situation. On Monday, we would like to show who we really are.

Zaran Barisic: Congratulations to my team. We performed excellently from the first minute of the match until the end. We were focused and I’m proud of my players. It is not usual that we can perform so well against such a good team like Debrecen.

UEFA Conference League, 3^rd qualifying round, second-leg.

DVSC-Rapid Wien (Austrian) 0-5 (0-2).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 16 572 spectators. Referee: Stavrev (North-Macedonian).

DVSC: Megyeri – Kusnyír (Baranyai, 73.), Dreskovic, Romanchuk, Manrique – Lagator, Loncar – Szécsi (Domingues, 46.), Dzsudzsák (Mance, 86.), Joao Oliviera (Kyziridis, 61.) – Dorian Babunski (Bárány, 73.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Rapid: Hedl – Schick, Querfeld (Hofmann, 75.) , Cvetkovic (Soilbauer, 82.), Auer (Moormann, 75.) – Sattlberger, Oswald, Kerschbaum – Seidl, Burgstaller (Mayulu, 79.), Grüll (Bajic, 79.). Head coach: Zoran Barisic.

Goal: Seidl (15.), Romanchuk (43., own goal), Grüll (51.), Burgstaller (72.), Bajic (90.).

Yellow card: Domingues (54.), Lagator (67.), as well as Seidl (25.), Querfeld (27.), Auer (31.), Sattlberger (34.), Cvetkovic (46.).

The management of DVSC prolonged the contract of Christian Manrique. The Spanish football player arrived to Loki last summer from the Cypriot Olympiacos Nicosia and he became a key player at DVSC. Until now, the 24-year-old footballer played 22 league matches in the colours of Loki, gave one assist and scored one goal as well.

“I’m really happy to continue my career in Debrecen. I’m glad that the management trusts me and I owe a lot to the club. What concerns the future, I will give the maximum in order to reach our goals together,” concluded his words our Spanish player with great joy.

Congratulations to Christian Manrique, who signed a contract until 2025!

On Sunday, Loki started the championship game against Zalaegerszeg with a strongly rotated line-up and without the injured János Ferenczi. Among the starting eleven were Marko Milosevic the goalkeeper, Nimród Baranyai, Alexander Mojzis, who already made his debut in the colours of Loki in Vienna, as well as József Varga, Botond Vajda, Ádám Bódi, Donát Bárány and Brandon Domingues.

The match started with a minute of silence to bid farewell to our fellow supporter Gábor Leskó, who passed away after a prolonged illness at the age of 42. He had been a loyal supporter of Loki since 1995. We preserve his memory.

At the very beginning of the match, in the 2^nd minute, Christian Manrique shot just wide off the goal; Loki was obviously dominating. In the 7^th minute, Donát Bárány was close to scoring but his close-range shot was blocked. Our team tried to play their own style but Zalaegerszeg also had some attempts: in the 18^th minute, Tajti shot wide off the goal from 15 meters.

In the second part of the first half, except for another opportunity from Tajti, not many significant chances were created at either of the goals. As it’s commonly said, the tactical aspect was the defining factor until the halftime.

Even though the second half started with the attacks of DVSC, in the 51^st minute, Marko Milosevic had to save the header of Sajbán. In the last 30 minutes, Balázs Dzsudzsák, Antonio Mance and Alexandros Kyziridis came on as substitutes and Loki tried to put more pressure on the opponent.

In the final minutes, our players occasionally pinned Zalaegerszeg to their goal, in the 72^nd minute, Kyziridis narrowly missed the right post, and in the 75^th minute, Senkó caught Mojzis’s header. Erik Kusnyír, then Dusan Lagator also came on at the end, but Alexandros Kyziridis was the one who decided the match with his first goal in the ranks of DVSC. In the 84^th minute, our winger broke through the middle, showcased excellent dribbles, advanced the ball towards the goal and then shot it into the right side of the net from about 15 meters away. What a beautiful goal it was! (1-0). DVSC preserved its advantage and earned three more valuable points.

Loki is undefeated since the last 8 matches, including the end of the previous season. The next game will be against the Austrian Rapid in the UEFA Conference League, starting at 9 pm. on Thursday at Nagyerdei Stadium.

Through the eyes of the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: Congratulations to my players and thanks for the support of the fans. I would like to grab the opportunity to invite everyone to our match against Rapid on Thursday. The players deserved this victory as they have been putting a lot of effort during the training sessions. Sometimes we don’t play so great but we always try to do what we practice during the trainings. We started the match well, then we had a setback but we expected this as it was the first time when we played in this line-up. Due to the substitutes and tactical changes, we got closer to the opponent’s goal and I’m really happy that Alexandros Kyziridis scored.

Gábor Bóér: We didn’t start the match well but we could stabilize the team and were dominating occasionally. In the second half, I felt that we were maintaining good attacks but we had some problems with the final passes. We made two mistakes before conceding the goal. I feel sorry because my players did a good job.

OTP Bank Liga, 3^rd round.

DVSC-ZTE 1-0 (0-0).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 5011 spectators. Referee: Vad II.

DVSC: Milosevic – Baranyai, Dreskovic, Mojzis, Manrique – Varga J. (Kusnyír, 80.), Loncar – Vajda (Dzsudzsák, 63.), Domingues (Lagator, 87.), Bódi (Kyziridis, 63.) – Bárány (Mance, 63.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

ZTE: Senkó – Huszti (Klausz, 85.), Mocsi, Safronov, Gergényi – Szendrei N., Milovanovikj (Mim, 32.), Sankovic, Tajti – Sajbán M. (Ikoba, 58.), Szalay Sz. (Németh D., 58.). Head coach: Gábor Bóér.

Goal: Kyziridis (84.).

Yellow card: Kyziridis (94.), as well as Milovanovikj (28.), Gergényi (88.), Ikoba (91.).

By mutual consent of the parties, Norbert Kundrák is leaving DVSC, having spent the previous season on loan in Szeged. The 24-year-old player appeared in 41 matches in the colors of Loki in the NB I and NB II, scoring 3 goals in those.

We wish him success in his future career!

There was a real football atmosphere during the first-leg match of the 3^rd qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, when Loki played away against Rapid Wien in front of 17,000 spectators on Thursday evening in Vienna. Almost 1000 fans accompanied our team to Austria, which gave a huge support to the players. Unfortunately, János Ferenczi was not in the squad because of his injury but among the starting eleven we could see Joao Oliveira, who arrived at Loki in summer.

As it was expected, Rapid tried to press and attack already at the beginning of the match but we started in a calm manner and had a lot of ball possession. The first bigger chance came in the 12^th minute, when Balázs Megyeri had to save the close curl of Seidl. In the 17^th minute, at the end of a beautiful attack, Joao Oliveira was fouled 17 meters away from the goal and from the resulting free-kick, Balázs Dzsudzsák took a fantastic shot, which hit the goalpost.

In the next minutes, DVSC was still playing well and in the 29^th minute, it looked like Márk Szécsi was fouled within the box but the referee did not award a penalty kick. In the 32^nd minute, Grüll shot just wide from a free-kick and towards the end of the first half, the referee did not award a goal for the home team due to a handball. Megyeri had to make one more brilliant save until the halftime, but no valid goals were scored, and our team performed well.

At the beginning of the second half, the game’s dynamics remain unchanged; Loki was effectively holding back Rapid and led some beautiful attacks. The excitement grew and there was a tough fight. In the 58^th minute, Balázs Megyeri saved Kühn’s shot, and in the 61^st minute, Brandon Domingues came on as a substitute.

At that point, the game was uninterrupted several times, but our team was still an equal opponent of Rapid Wien. In the final minutes, Donát Bárány and Alexandros Kyziridis also came on as substitutes and Loki was becoming more dangerous in front of the opponent’s goal. In the 80^th minute, after Bárány’s passing, Kyziridis hit the left goalpost from 10 meters. Thus, our team was close to scoring in both halves.

In the endgame, Loki was playing better than Rapid (József Varga and Alexander Mojzis also came on) but no goals were scored. DVSC is still undefeated away in 2023, and the return match will take place next Thursday at 9 pm. in Nagyerdei Stadium.

With the eyes of the coach

Zaran Barisic: It was confirmed that Debrecen is a strong opponent. We had more chances in the first half but we were not able to score. In the second half, both teams had some chances. The return match is going to be exciting and the question who qualifies for the next round is still open.

Srdjan Blagojevic: It was a really demanding match, Rapid was considered to be the favourite in this game but we stayed alive. The second match will decide our fate, we are waiting for the return match in Debrecen. We have improved, and this game was a little bit like the one that we played away against Ferencváros. It was hard to implement our plan, but I would like to praise my players because they reacted very well on the intensive football of our opponent. We can be better and must be better.

UEFA Conference League, 3rd qualifying round, 1st match.

Rapid Wien-DVSC 0-0.

Allianz Stadium, 17 200 spectators. Referee: Rob Hennessy (Irish).

Rapid: Hedl – Schick, Querfeld, Cvetkovic, Auer – Kühn (Strunz, 81.), Sattlberger (Greil, 69.), Kerschbaum, Grüll (Bajic, 89.) – Seidl (Mayulu, 81.), Burgstaller. Head coach: Zoran Barisic.

DVSC: Megyeri – Kiusnyír, Dreskovic, Romanchuk, Manrique – Lagator, Loncar (Mojzis, 91.) – Szécsi (Domingues, 61.), Dzsudzsák (Varga J., 91.), Joao Oliveira (Kyziridis, 70.) – Dorian Babunski (Bárány, 70.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Yellow card: Querfeld (17.), Seidl (44.), Cvetkovic (75.), Kerschbaum (91.), as well as Joao Oliveira (45+4.).

The cooperation between DVSC and Desmond Tra, one of the representatives of the SPOCS agency, is getting stronger. Due to this cooperation, the head scout of DVSC, Bence Gulácsi had the opportunity to participate in scouting programs in Nigeria two times over the last year.

During these times, he visited the matches of several local clubs, held numerous consultations, and the most intriguing players for DVSC received invitations for trials in Debrecen.

Among the players who participated in the tests, David Nwachukwu delivered the most convincing performance. So much so that DVSC signed a contract with the 19-year-old talent.

David Nwachukwu, who was raised at the Iglaho Academy, is a left-footed, technically talented player, who can be deployed especially as an attacking midfielder. He has already joined DVSC II., and during the preparation matches of the second team, was outstanding with his goals and assists. He has already trained with the first team as well.

The cooperation continues due to the kindness and fair relationship between the parties. DVSC continues to look after the talents on several continents. Due to this, signing one more Nigerian player is among the plans of DVSC. Welcome to Loki, David Nwachukwu!

Tickets for the DVSC-Rapid Wien match of the UEFA Conference League can be purchased online at nagyerdeistadion.hu and in person at the ticket offices and DVSC Shop. Match day: August 17, starting at 9 pm.

Important to know:

• Season tickets are not valid for this match.
• Discount for season ticket holders: until August 10, they have the opportunity to purchase tickets their season ticket spots with a 20% discount. No online purchase option for these tickets, please use the ticket offices!
• The abovementioned information is valid for pensioner season tickets as well.

• VIP:
  • 20% discount for the VIP season tickets until August 10
  • no discount on VIP-child tickets as these are already discounted

• After August 10, we will release the season ticket spots for ticket sales as well.

DVSC signed a professional contract with two young players, Erik Kócs-Washburn and Ernest Romanchuk.

Erik Kócs-Washburn is a 2003-born winger, and he is a Hungarian-American dual citizen. We have signed him in January 2023 from his home team Chicago Fire, where he played in the junior team. In the spring season, he scored 7 goals and gave 8 assists in the ranks of DVSC II., and played an important role in reaching the 4^th place in the Eastern group of the third division.

Ernest Romanchuk is a 2003-born, Ukrainian left-footed centre-back. He was raised at the youth team of the internationally renowned Dinamo Kijev, where he reached the U19 age group. He is the younger brother of Oleksandr Romanchuk, who plays in our first team.

We wish them good luck in the ranks of DVSC!

UEFA drew the pairings for the fourth, play-off qualifying round of the Conference League on Monday afternoon, and the “pots” were already prepared in the morning.

Based on this, it was known that the winner of the DVSC-Rapid Wien match would face an incredibly strong opponent in the next round. This could have been either the Belgian Brugge, the Serbian Partizan, the Greek PAOK, the Israeli Maccabi Tel-Aviv, or the Italian Fiorentina.

During the draw, it was revealed that the winner of the DVSC-Rapid match will play against the Italian Fiorentina for the group stage, and the second leg will take place in Florence.

The match dates are: August 24 and 31.

DVSC prolonged the contract of Erik Kusnyir until 2026. The 23-year-old homegrown player has been showing great performance from match to match, and he has been a key player of the team for many years.

In the last season, he played in 21 league matches and was one of the best players during the cup match on Thursday as well.

“I’m happy to continue my career in Debrecen. The decision was obvious when the club informed me about their intention to extend my contract. DVSC is the team where I became a professional football player, the place where I made my debut in the first division and I owe a lot to the club. I hope that we can reach much more success together and I would like to play more games on the international stage too. In fact, it is no secret that my goal is to make a debut in the Hungarian national team as well,” said Erik Kusnyír happily after signing his contract.

We congratulate our player and wish him success in the ranks of DVSC!

On Thursday evening, Loki played the 100^th international cup game in the history of the club at Nagyerdei Stadium, which was the second leg of the second qualifying of the UEFA Conference League. Winning 0-1 away against the Armenian Alashkert created a good basis for qualifying but everybody knew that still, the battle had to be fought.

Except János Ferenczi, who was not in the squad because of his injury, everybody was ready to play, so there were no surprises regarding the line-up. The match started in a fantastic atmosphere, the fans gave huge support to the team. Loki started the match dynamically, in the 3^rd minute Balázs Dzsudzsák shot over the goal from long-range, after which Kyziridis also tried and was not far from scoring. In the 10^th minute, Christian Manrique shot sharply from the left wing but it hit the crossbar.

The first chance for Alashkert came in the 18^th minute, when Megyeri saved the close-range shot of Khurtsidze but the opponent took the lead after the corner. Ustinov headed the ball into the center of the goal from 7 meters (0-1).

At this point, it looked like there will be extra time so DVSC tried to fix the situation. In the 29^th minute, Meldin Dreskovic headed over the goal. There were some other dangerous situations in front of the opponent’s goal but no equalizer goal was scored until the halftime.

At the beginning of the second half, in the 51^st minute, DVSC earned a free-kick about 23 meters from the goal, Balázs Dzsudzsák’s ball bounced off the defensive wall. In the 55^th minute, Stefan Loncar shot over the goal from 24 meters but our team still tried to equalize. In the 58^th minute, Balázs Megyeri made a brilliant save when Agdon was in a clear-cut chance. After that, Ádám Bódi came onto the pitch.

In the 66^th minute, Dorian Babunski slid the ball just wide off the goal. Then, Alashkert scored in the 67^th minute: after a quick attack, Mimito shot the ball into the bottom right corner (0-2). So, there was trouble, big trouble, DVSC was on the verge of relegation. During the final minutes, Brandon Domingues and Donát Bárány came on as substitutes but still, there were lots of mistakes in our play.

Finally, the Loki goal came in the final minutes! In the 77^th minute, Domingues came from the right wing and made a great cross, and the arriving Balázs Dzsudzsák shot the ball into the left side of the goal from 12 meters (1-2). Later, both Stefan Loncar and Donát Bárány had their chances and in the 87^th minute, Kutalia kicked Domingues from the back and received a red card, so the guest team was playing undermanned from that point on. No other goals were scored during the extra time (8 minutes), then came the 2×15 minute prolongation.

In the first part of the prolongation, the superiority of Loki was obvious but our team didn’t really have a big chance to score. There was a waiting game on the pitch, in the 98^th minute, Balázs Dzsudzsák shot over the goal. Antonio Mance also came on (he had a huge chance) but the decision was left for the last 15 minutes, and as it turned out, it went to penalties.

In the 106^th minute, the opponent goalkeeper Cancarevic brilliantly saved at first Donát Bárány’s, then Antonio Mance’s clear-cut chance. The spectators saw a real cup battle and experienced dramatic excitements at the stadium. The game was resumed for lots of minutes, and Joao Oliveira, who came on as a substitute in the 109^th minute, shot over the goal from a really close distance. Then came the penalties.

Yadigariyan missed it (Balázs Megyeri punched out the ball), Ádám Bódi scored (1-0), Mimito shot wide off the goal, Mance shot at the top right corner and scored (2-0), Muzek converted the goal (2-1), Donát Bárány also scored (3-1), however, Balázs Megyeri saved Fatai’s shot, and that’s how DVSC qualified for the next round with a 2-2 final score and penalties.

Our next opponent on the international stage is the 32-time Austrian champion, Rapid Wien. The first leg will be on August 10 in Vienna, while the second leg will be on August 17 in Debrecen.

With the eyes of the coach

Srdjan Blagojevic: It was a dramatic match. Perhaps, the spectators enjoyed some parts of these excitements but me, as a coach, like when we control the game. Now, it didn’t happen. I knew that it will be a tough match and it showed up on the pitch as well. We had some tactical and technical mistakes, and lost the second balls lots of times. During several parts of the game, the opponent was better. However, I would like to praise my players because they brought a lot of energy in order to succeed. The goal of Balázs Dzsudzsák kept us alive and the red card changed the game. We are happy but we learned what are those aspects, in which we should still progress.

Vahe Gevorgyan: Congratulations to Debrecen for qualifying for the next round. It was a really good match but I do not agree with some decisions of the referee, such as the red card. From a tactical point of view, both matches, the one in Yerevan and the one in Debrecen, were interesting. We wanted to put high pressure on our opponent but the red card changed the game. Penalties are often down to luck.

UEFA Conference League, second qualifying round, second leg.

DVSC-Alashkert (Armenian) 1-2 (0-1, 1-2, 1-2), in total 2-2, with penalties 3-1.

Nagyerdei Stadium, 10 708 spectators. Referee: Robert Schröder (German).

DVSC: Megyeri – Kusnyír, Dreskovic, Romanchuk, Manrique (Joao Oliveira, 117.) – Lagator, Loncar (Mance, 99.) – Szécsi (Domingues, 73.), Dzsudzsák, Kyziridis (Bódi, 65.) – Dorian Babunski (Bárány, 73.). Head coach: Srdjan Blagojevic.

Alashkert: Cancarevic – Ustinov, Carrillo (Yadigaryan, 109.), Voskanyan, Muzek – Flores (Mensah, 89.), Wbeymar (Gareginyan, 83.), Khurtsidze (Grigoryan, 106.), Mimito, Racines (Fatai, 61.) – Agdon (Kutalia, 61.). Head coach: Vahe Gevorgyan.

Goal: Dzsudzsák (77.), as well as Ustinov (18.), Mimito (67.).