He has already become the star of this start of the Euro. All in fifteen minutes flat, and without scoring. To make a name for himself among the general public, Martin Adam only needed his figure. Atypical, let it be said, for a very high level player. Tattoos on both arms, a full red beard, clean-shaven hair and above all a few extra kilos hidden under his jersey flanked by the number 9: entered for the last quarter of an hour of the match against Switzerland (3-1), the Hungarian striker was widely commented on on social networks on Saturday afternoon.
“I saw a few jokes. Usually it makes me laugh. I was born like this, it’s my body type. I can’t change, I can’t change genetics. That’s all I can say“, he said on Sunday, certainly regretting a few mockeries here and there.
“But the fans already love it“, wrote for example the Daily Mail on X (ex-Twitter) about the 29-year-old striker. Behind his bulky physique, however, hides a real goalscorer. And if Hungary is competing in the Euro, it owes it in particular to its striker, who notably scored twice against Bulgaria during the qualifiers. Enough to participate in the qualification of his team and the first final place in their group.
Since 2022, Adam has been playing in South Korea. With his club Ulsan, he scored 24 goals in 67 matches. But before that, he tormented the Hungarian defenses for a long time, in both the first and second divisions. First with Vasas SC, where the 1.91m striker scored 31 goals in 153 matches from 2012 to 2018. Then he joined Kaposvari Rakoczi in January 2019 after terminating his contract. There, he piled up the achievements: 39 in 66 matches. During the 2021-2022 season, first place in the scorers ranking was his with… 31 goals. Anyway.
Adam, who played his first European match in June 2017 against Beitar Jerusalem, valid for the first qualifying round of the Europa League, then headed to the Korean championship. With Ulsan, he was crowned champion twice (2022 and 2023).
Euro 2021? Adam was drinking a beer
Called up for this edition of the Euro, the Hungarian international still remembers, not without humor, what he did during the previous one. “I was at home, drinking a beer.”, quipped the man who has made 23 appearances in the jersey of his selection over the past two years. On the clock, a total of three goals and three assists in 695 minutes. Having also passed through the U21 (2 matches) and U18 (2 matches) categories, Adam has a value of 800,000 euros in the transfer window according to the specialist site Transfermarkt. It even exceeded one million euros in December 2022.
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Author of 8 goals in all competitions this season (K League and AFC Champions League), Adam would not say no to a return to Hungary after having reviewed his experience in South Korea. But, in the meantime, he still has two matches to try to add his name to the list of scorers for Euro 2024. In the memory books, he will undoubtedly remain one of the darlings.
