September 10, 2009

Hungarian Major League Soccer Player and Coach Visits Embassy

Zoltán Hercegfalvi, Hungarian Striker of Kansas City Wizards, a soccer team in the Eastern Division of Major League Soccer (MLS), the American professional soccer championship, and Peter Vermes, Acting Head Coach and Technical Director of the team, whose parents were also Hungarian, met with diplomats of the Embassy on Thursday, September 10. The Striker and the Coach were accompanied by Kyle Rogers, Press Secretary of the Wizards.

The team members talked about their work, their relationship to Hungary and Hungarians, and also future plans in Major League Soccer. Their visit came immediately after the Wizards, including Striker Hercegfalvi, played with DC United in the US capital on September 9, which ended with a 1:0 home team victory.

Zoltán Hercegfalvi was born on December 31, 1979. He was a member of the Hungarian national soccer team, and for twenty years he has been a striker of Honvéd, a Hungarian major league team, where he played on field 217 times, scoring 55 goals.

Peter Vermes was born on November 21, 1966 in Willingboro, New Jersey. His father, Mihály Vermes played soccer in Honvéd until 1956, when he emigrated with his family to the United States. His son, Peter, was a striker in the American national team in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, later becoming one of the best defenders in the MLS.

After his professional career ended, he began coaching soccer teams, becoming Technical Director of the Wizards in November 2006, eventually rising to Acting Head Coach in August 2009. His command of Hungarian is remarkable, and he wishes to attract more Hungarian professional soccer players to his current team on the grounds of the widening global market of this ever more popular sport.