Austria shocked by Hungary in Group F match (updated)

Hungary, playing their first major tournament in 30 years, produced the biggest shock at the European championship as they defeated world 10th-ranked Austria 2-0 in their first Group F match here on Tuesday.

Adam Szalai, who played for German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim, played a one-two with midfielder Laszlo Kleinheisler before firing home from close range in the 63rd minute.

It was his first goal for the club and the national side in 18 months.

Second-half substitution Zoltan Stieber made it 2-0 in the 87th minute when striker Tamas Priskin sent the ball forward and Zoltan Stieber made a solo run to chip it over the head of Austria keeper Robert Almer.

Austria's Aleksandar Dragovic was shown a second yellow card and sent off in the 66th.

Hungary's win marks the longest gap between victories for any team in the European championship history. They had not won a game since their extra-time triumph over Denmark on 20 June 1964.

"A huge compliment to my team," said Bernd Storck, the head coach of Hungary. "We got our reward for three weeks of hard work. Our recent friendlies helped against a good team. At the start you need a bit of luck - which we had with the shot from Alaba on the post - but then we were more secure and the players woke up.

"We always tried to score going forward and what we did in the second half was brilliant. We scored a fantastic goal through Szalai, a huge compliment to him ... The second goal was well worked, a classic counter, Zoltan Stieber has never given up. I told him I needed him and he's paid that back."

Hungary will next play Iceland, who held Portugal 1-1 in the day's other game while Austria meet Portugal.

"It doesn't interest me at all (how far people say we could go). We're focusing on the next game. It will be a tough test - Iceland qualified brilliantly, but we' ll try to focus on them and take things slowly, step by step."

Austria, which have rocketed from 70th to 10th in the FIFA world rankings in five years under Marcel Koller, should have scored the fastest goal at the tournament from their super star David Alaba only a few seconds into action, but the Bayern Munich midfielder's effort from 20 meters hit the post.

Austria, who also boasted English Premier League champion Christian Fuchs, created several good chances but was saved by Hungarian keeper Gabor Kiraly, a 40-year-old who is the oldest player the Euros have ever seen.

The match gradually became close and after the interval Hungary suddenly were sharper in attacks.

Hungary captain Balazs Dzsudzsak nearly put his team ahead with in an effort from 25 meters but Szalai finally found the net.

Austria head coach Marcel Koller said, "It was a good start to the match. We had some good combination play. But the more the match went on the more nervous we got. And we let the Hungarians in. We were playing against a good Hungarian team that took advantage of this and then we had the red card which made things even more difficult for us." Endit