18.09.2014 15:09 h

Hungary sacks coach after N. Ireland defeat

Hungary sacked its coach on Thursday after only five games in charge following defeat against Northern Ireland in the first round of qualifying for the 2016 European Championships.

Attila Pinter, 48, will be replaced on an interim basis for three matches by Pal Dardai, 38, a former national player and currently youth team coach at Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin.

"We have five or six candidates, known coaches" to take on the job permanently, Sandor Csanyi, Hungarian Football Federation president, told a news conference in Budapest.

Hungary lost 2-1 at home to Northern Ireland on September 7. Dardai's first game will be against Romania in a Euro 2016 qualifier match on October 11.

Hungary, once a major player in international football in the 1950s and 1960s but now 54th in the FIFA rankings, last qualified for an international tournament at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.