“I admit, this invitation really warmed my heart,” said Georges Leekens. “We had already planned to travel to Dubai, as my wife is celebrating her 60th birthday. I wanted to surprise her with a special trip and an unforgettable experience. Then a message arrived from Budapest saying that we were warmly welcomed there, and from that moment there was no question about it: we would travel to Hungary. I love this country; I spent ten unforgettable months here. And that remains true even if our results did not turn out as we would have liked. I know that many people see me as a kind of failed head coach. But they ignore the period in which I took on this job. I was given the role of a transitional leader, someone who had to manage change and lay the foundations of a new team. And I believe I did exactly that. Back then, in 2018, in those friendly matches, the results were not the most important thing. I still believe that today. I was the first to call up Dominik Szoboszlai, who was almost a child at the time. I was the first to put my trust in Roland Sallai. I discovered Willi Orban. It was also my idea to naturalize Loïc Nego. I wanted Gábor Király to work alongside me as goalkeeping coach, and I tried to bring former key players into the coaching staff. I had plans, I started something, but I was not allowed to continue my work. I hold no bitterness; as you can see, they invited me again, and I came with pleasure.” So instead of Dubai, the Leekens couple will celebrate in Budapest. And knowing the always elegant, highly intelligent and cultured Belgian football expert, he will raise a glass of Hungary’s finest red wines in his favorite downtown restaurants to mark his wife’s 60th birthday. He will, of course, also toast with his friend Gábor Békeffy, a Belgian–Hungarian businessman living in Budapest, the son of world-famous football agent Jenő Békeffy. Hungarian football and the national team’s performances will almost certainly come up in conversation as well.
