Liverpool star Szoboszlai says Varga Euro 2024 injury 'burned into my retina'

Liverpool playmaker Dominik Szoboszlai rushed to the aid of his Hungary teammate Barnabas Varga after he suffered a horror injury at Euro 2024. 

The 29-year-old striker was caught by a high Angus Gunn challenge while attempting to head the ball during the second half of Hungary’s final group stage game against Scotland on Sunday night. 

Play was halted for seven minutes as Varga received treatment on the field with curtains being erected around the frontman as he lay prone on the turf. 

Fans and players alike feared the worst as Varga was left unconscious by the challenge, with Szoboszlai left unhappy at the speed with which the stretcher was being brought to the field. 

The 23-year-old Liverpool man joined the paramedics, pushing the stretcher towards his colleague in an attempt to get him treated faster. 

The Ferencvaros forward was taken straight to hospital in Stuttgart with the Hungarian football authorities later putting out information which revealed that Varga was conscious and stable. 

He was scheduled for surgery on several fractures to his face while he was also due to undergo treatment for suspected concussion having been knocked out. 

Hungary won the game via a late Kevin Csoboth goal to earn them a third-place finish in Group A and they now await to see whether three points will be enough to grant them passage to the last 16 as one of the best third-placed teams. 

Szoboszlai: I wouldn’t wish it on anyone

The focus in the aftermath of the Scotland game was on Varga with Szoboszlai donning his No.19 shirt for the post-game celebrations and several players paying tribute to their stricken striker.  

READ MORE: RB Leipzig want Liverpool rising star

Szoboszlai spoke to the media after the game, admitting that the sight of his friend on the turf will be ‘burned into his retina’, and also questioning the protocol which led to Varga’s on-field treatment. 

“I wouldn't wish this on anyone,” he is reported to have said by Sportal.hu “I was one of the first to be there. It was also startling to see, burned into my retina. 

“I don't understand how the protocol worked, that the paramedics can't run or the stretcher can't be brought in.”