He was barely 23 years old when he celebrated his first championship title with Dunaújváros, and soon after László Éger became one of the best defenders of Loki. The hard core of Debrecen at the time was immediately accepted by those who would not remember their hard-loving concrete and great placement, which has since been cited as a frequent example, reflecting on the shocks of defense in recent years. The Paks-born player hung the stoplist at an angle with more than 500 professional matches behind him. After an active career, he took a job in the supply of his hometown. The former national team spoke about his experiences in Debrecen, his best moments and how he fought out and then retained his favorite status as an “outsider” in an exclusive interview with the Hajdú-Bihar Diary.

How does the retired László Éger live?

I am currently an assistant / technical manager at Paks, I am the liaison between the players and the managers. Whatever problem arises, I try to help our footballers. I take part in individual training with the defenders on the adult team and I coach on the U15. Although I’m not bored with a lot of things to do, I go seven days a week, but luckily I really like my job. If my team doesn’t play, I watch countless youth matches. Everyone knows that Paks consists only of Hungarian players, so at the NB II meeks – at the request of Mr. Zsolt Haraszti – I also observe specific players.

Isn’t Debrecen missing?

László Éger did not move away from football even after his retirement in 2014 | Photo: Gyula Molnár / Tolnai Népújság

No, I’ve made a lot of friends there, so I’ll be back to this day. Last time I played matches against MOL Fehérvár FC in Civisváros. We could see a very good mex, I’m sorry the Loki couldn’t win. It would have been nice to see what they know against 11-11, but unfortunately Balázs’ exhibition intervened. I really liked the game because of that, I add, even if I’m not personally out on all their meeks, I keep track of my former club. One of the best decisions of my life was to pass from Dunaújváros anno to the VSC of Debrecen. We had a great team and although it was not a local upbringing, there is a friendly, open station available to both the player and the fans as an outsider. Of the former, I had a particularly good relationship with Zoli Böőr, but I could also say that I had Petit Halmosi, Norbi Csernyánszki, Tibit Selymes, Ronald Habi, Igor Bogdanovics or Balázs Nikolov, among others. To this day, when I go there, we usually run with Csabi Madar, Zsombi Kerekes, Bandi Herczeg. The fans also carried it on their palms. I remember going out to warm up, there were already 4-5 thousand people there, and by the time the heating was over, it was a full house, and an ovation that was elusive, the man shuddered at the push. At that time, the stadium on Oláh Gábor Street was all I had.

Did you have a favorite moment?

I had a lot of love for me in red and white, such as the round-trip fight against Hajduk Split or the championship title against Pécs, when Sándor Tomi kicked a goal from a free kick… the moment is how we can celebrate in a frenzy in front of the house. But I also take here my missed penalty against PAOK, which sold Bajza Peti off the goalpost.

We must have had weaker moments too, but I only remember the good, it really remained in me. If I had to mention a single ambiguous experience, the recent dropout and experiencing it was the worst. The Paks point stayed inside Debrecen, yet it was hard to see that medium after the relegation and come from there, because I always cheered for Loki in addition to my current opponent. The drukkers came on the field, they came to me too… it was just bad to live it all.

During his career, both national team and foreigners came together, but do you have a sense of lack?

One absolutely no, it was beautiful as it turned out. If someone with a child’s head tells me that I will be a four-time champion, silver and bronze medalist, super cup winner and national team player, I would have signed immediately. I am most proud to have been able to achieve this from Paks, a small town. Of course, it would have been nice if we could have worked with such a well-developed management system and conditions as the current players. If we take DVSC as an example, they have a wonderful new stadium – and although I loved the stadium on Oláh Gábor Street – the team at the time would have played in front of a full house in Nagyerde, that’s a belief. However, the academies, as well as the conditions that can play football for the current team, are not comparable to the old days. It was like we had to train on the athletics pitch, where they tossed in front of us, and my teammate’s ankles went out on the soft ground. This is how we achieved the championship titles, which I think will be greatly appreciated by these results.

László Éger is warming up on the lawn of Old Trafford at the 2005 Manchester United
before the Champions League qualifiers against Photo: National Sports Archive

Now both managerial and career relationships are a visible experience to embark on. There is no pay slip – lucky in Debrecen, it didn’t happen that year either – which happened to so many teams at that time. I know, the situation has been different since then, but I don’t have any negative experiences from the adventure in Debrecen, so I owe it to Gábor Szima.

Has the attitude of the players changed along with the improvements?

Nowadays, the world has turned around: if someone doesn’t play for two weeks, gets offended, goes to complain to the coach, the club leader. This did not happen in my time, it occurred to us to go to the trainer, we knew right away that if we didn’t play, we certainly wouldn’t perform, we had to put ourselves better there.

Anno, my childhood coach in Paks, put ten names in an envelope and said, after ten years, these guys are all professionals. It happened. Now, in many places, you can’t put those ten names in the envelope. Already at the academic level, there are those who cannot perform well right away because of the children, the concentrated. The following year, they are replaced and replaced by a new one, which is spiritually very worn by the Ifists. I don’t know if such young people will get lost or stop on their own, we in Paks are trying to get the guys who have been reconsidered anyway. Being a smaller club, we don’t certify 10-15 people a year, but rather give the potential to those already there, so again there are 7-8 players who NB I. – NB II. level you will be able to play football. Luckily, Loki also puts more and more talented young people in the adult frame like Peti Baráth and plays them in the adult frame, but MTK, famous for its youthists, for example, has completely deviated from this path, I wonder if there is a change in their case. Not to mention that there are even more foreigners in the league than they should, and I don’t understand why.

Hasn’t it turned in your mind since you left to return?

I haven’t talked about it yet, but there was a moment when I was playing in Paks and Gábor Szima approached me to come back. This was at the time when Balázs Nikolov was re-certified for the DVSC. I thought about it because it pulled my heart back, but my home is Paks, my family is there too, and my father was sick back then, so I asked them to let me go home. I came home in 2007, they wanted to confirm around 2009, he is 31 years old.

Then I was with him, I built something up, because whenever I go to Debrecen, they welcome me, I can talk to the fans, based on the way I played, I accomplished. At the age of 30-32, people are not old, but they are no longer the young age group, but if one or two mistakes are made there, they do not talk about the same Éger Laci anymore. So, on the other hand, I stayed with who I was there and exposed my heart and soul in every match, maintaining a good relationship with the locals.

I have a lot of friends, when I come back, they see me on the street, they find me, it means an incredible amount to me. At the moment I feel great in Paks, my son is a member of the 2007 age group, he will be studying now. But we’ve talked about it, what if? I never say that never, I can imagine that I would be happy to come to Debrecen for a new job or a coaching position. Paks and Debrecen, these are the two centers around which my thoughts revolve. My second home was the civic city.

Péter Szabolcs