Hughes’ Hungary spitting claims

Hungary 1 Wales 2

Wales midfielder Robbie Savage and Hungary coach Lothar Matthaus had to be separated after the final whistle as they went eyeball to eyeball.

The match was littered with fouls and Matthaus accused Wales of “continually complaining to the referee when they were fouled, while his players just accepted the decisions”.

Matthaus accused Welsh players of “throwing punches” in the post-match melee in the centre of the pitch. “I only went on the pitch once, and that was after the game. I know the players who were throwing punches.”

Savage was involved in a clash with defender Zoltan Peto twice in the final minutes, the Hungarian having just been guilty of a terrible tackle on match-winner Robert Earnshaw.

But Hughes was having none of it, and said: “I did not see any of my players throwing punches, if Lothar saw punches being thrown maybe it was his own players.

“I did not think Robbie did anything wrong. Towards the end the Hungarians were getting frustrated and doing things to get a reaction.”

Hughes and Matthaus were team-mates at Bayern Munich and shook hands after the media conference. But Hughes was far from pleased with the behaviour of the Hungarians. “Players will only react when there is real provocation, and at the end there was. They were saying they were being spat on continuously throughout the game, and that was why there was a reaction.”

The spitefulness detracted from what was an impressive win for Wales, who fell behind when Krisztian Kenesei tucked away a penalty but quickly drew level through Jason Koumas. Earnshaw latched on to a defensive error nine minutes from time to score his seventh goal in international football.

HUNGARY: Babos, Komlosi (Dveri 88), Low (Bodor 88), Bodnar, Stark, Zoltan Peto, Molnar (Bojte 80), Lisztes (Toth 52), Kenesei (Szabics 45), Gera, Torghelle (Sebok 70).

WALES: Paul Jones (Coyne 45), Melville, Gabbidon, Page, Thatcher (Edwards 54), Robinson (Fletcher 89), Savage, Koumas, Vaughan (Gareth Roberts 66), Earnshaw, Taylor.