Koman up for far more

It was all going so well for Hungary in their opening UEFA European Under-17 Championship Group A game against Russia. Vladimir Koman, Ádám Dudás and Krisztián Németh were running riot up front, and it seemed only a matter of time before a goal came. But when it did late on, it gave Russia the points.

'Very angry'
"Of course I am very angry because considering how we played it was a very bad result," Koman told uefa.com. "I also felt during the game that it would not even be a draw - we had so many chances I thought we would surely win."

Resilience
But Koman is a resilient character. The attacking midfielder came back from a broken leg earlier this season to help Hungary through a tough Elite round group in Portugal, and he was only 14 when he joined UC Sampdoria, leaving him to settle in a new country at a young age. Now Koman and his national team colleagues are going for victory against hosts Luxembourg this evening in Mondorf, a venue where Hungary were given noisy support on Wednesday.

Focused
"It is a secret what the coach has told us but I can tell you we really want to win both remaining games," Koman said. "We can't think about anything other than the task in hand. Even though there will be a lot of fans there, it doesn't make any difference as we are used to these situations."

'Big achievement'
That is a fine attitude to take in a player's first final tournament. "I am enjoying everything here as it is a great success for us to be here and it is a big achievement for Hungary to reach a European finals," Koman said, having played no small part due to his part in their formidable attack. "There is great harmony between us three [Koman, Dudás and Németh] and also László Szabó. The four of us combine very well. As we proved in Portugal, together we can reach a high European standard."

Sampdoria move
Of course, Koman will need to reach that level consistently to make headway at Sampdoria. His move there came out of the blue. "We played a friendly against Italy in 2003 with the national team - and I must thank the national team for this opportunity - and Sampdoria had scouts there and the whole transfer happened in three months," he said. "The first two or three months were hard. I went there without any kind of help. But after a few months I spoke Italian comfortably and now I enjoy it."

First-team aim
Players like Theo Walcott and Nuri Sahin have proved in the last 12 months it is possible to go straight from the U17 finals to the first team at a big club, so how close is Koman? "I broke my leg, and I lost ground," he said. "I hope that maybe it will happen next season, I can feel step by step that I am coming closer when we have practice games against the first team. For me it is not very easy because my physical condition is not up to the others as I am lighter."

Foti example
Among those currently making the step up at Sampdoria is Salvatore Foti, part of the Italian side that finished third in last year's U17 finals on home soil. Koman has spoken to Foti about the tournament, and added: "They reached the [FIFA U17] World Cup which was a great experience for him. Now he is with the A team, he has done what he wanted."