Marco Rossi

Marco Rossi (born 9 September 1964) is an Italian-Hungarian professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Hungary national team.

His greatest achievement as a player was winning the Italian Cup with Sampdoria.

Growing up in the Torino youth academy, with whose Primavera team he won an Italian Cup and a Viareggio Tournament, he made his Serie A debut in the 1983-1984 season in Torino-Ascoli (0-0) on March 18, 1984.

He moved on to Campania, where he remained three seasons in Serie C1.

In 1987 he moved to Catanzaro, newly promoted to Serie B: the Calabrians, as freshmen, missed promotion to Serie A by one point, and Rossi was a starter in defense.

In 1988 he moved to Brescia, where he played five consecutive championships, gaining promotion to Serie A in 1992.

In 1993, after the relegation of the Rondinelle, he moved to Sampdoria for 2.5 billion lire, and remained there for two seasons in the top division; at this juncture he was included in the FIFA 97 video game database with the highest rating in the game, corresponding to 97.

When his contract with the Genoese club expired, at the age of 31, he moved abroad, first to Mexico to América, then to Germany to Eintracht Frankfurt.

In 1997 he returned to Italy to end his professional career at Piacenza, with which he won salvation in Serie A in a season conditioned by repeated injuries.

He played three seasons in the amateurs, one with Ospitaletto (relegation to Eccellenza due to last place) and two with Salò (in Eccellenza Lombarda).

Initially, he worked for lower Italian teams.

After retirement in 2000, Rossi became a manager at various clubs throughout Italy, most notably Spezia Calcio, from 2004 to 2011.

In August 2012, he took up the position of head coach of Budapest Honvéd FC where he served in two spells.

Then from August 2012 he was appointed as the coach of Budapesti Honvéd FC.

In his first season, he took third place with Honvéd in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I.

However, he was no longer as successful in the following season, so on 28 April 2014, Rossi resigned from his position.

On 7 February 2015, Rossi was appointed as the coach of the Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Budapest Honvéd FC for the second time in his career.

As a coach, he won the 2016-2017 Hungarian Football League title with Budapest Honvéd and finished third in the 2017–18 Slovak First Football League with DAC 1904.

Although Budapest Honvéd FC was not the most financially stable club of the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, Rossi won the 2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I after securing their trophy against their rival Videoton FC in the last round of the season.

The last match was won by Honvéd 1–0 at the Bozsik Stadion, Budapest, Hungary.

After winning the 2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season with Budapest Honvéd FC, Rossi resigned as the manager of Honvéd by saying that:

"I've become a champion, so I will have a chapter in the history book of this fantastic club. I've done my job, which is a beautiful job, and as they say, you have to stop at the top. I will do no different."

Rossi was chosen the best manager of the 2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season.

In 11 June 2017, it was announced that Rossi would sign for FC DAC 1904, a Slovakian football club, for two years plus an option for one more year.

The club is strongly supported by the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.

The team plays in the Slovakia First League.

In the final round of the season, DAC beat Ružomberok 4-0 away from home to secure their place on the podium, while Rossi led another team to the Europa League qualifiers after bronze medallist Honvéd.

In 2017, he signed a two-year contract with FC DAC 1904 and since 19 June 2018, he has served as the manager of Hungary national team.

On 19 June 2018, Rossi was announced as the new manager of the Hungary national football team.

He replaced Georges Leekens.

In 2018, András Gáll's book about Rossi's years spent with Honvéd entitled Marco Rossi: Olasz meló Magyarországon (Marco Rossi: The Italian Job in Hungary) was published.

He debuted as the new coach of Hungary on 8 September 2018 against Finland in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League series.

In the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League edition, Hungary finished second in their group; thus, they were promoted to the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B.

Hungary could beat Greece at the Ferencváros Stadion on 11 September 2018.

However, Hungary lost to Greece 1–0 on 12 October 2018 at the Olympic Stadium (Athens), Greece.

In the last two rounds, Hungary beat Estonia 2–0, and Finland 2–0 at home.

On 21 March 2019, Hungary lost to Slovakia 2–0 at the Anton Malatinský Stadium, Trnava, Slovakia.

He has also coached the Hungary national team to qualification for UEFA Euro 2020 and UEFA Euro 2024.

Since Greece lost to Estonia at home, Hungary finished second in their group and their chances to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2020 remained alive.

In the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, Hungary finished fourth in their group.