Soccer-Vinicius in, Nikolic out of Hungary's squad for Portugal
BUDAPEST, March 12 (Reuters) - Hungary have called up Brazilian-born defender Paulo Vinicius for their World Cup qualifier against European champions Portugal on March 25.
Vinicius, who received dual citizenship on March 10 and has been playing for 2015 Hungarian champions Videoton for the past six years, was included in coach Bernd Storck's 27-man squad for the Group B encounter in Lisbon.
There was no place for Chicago Fire striker Nemanja Nikolic, however, as Hungary prepare to face Portugal for the first time since they played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in the group stage of Euro 2016 in June.
Hungary are third in Group B with seven points after four games, two behind second-placed Portugal and five adrift of leaders Switzerland, who have won all of their matches.
Hungary will play a friendly against 2018 World Cup hosts Russia on June 5 in Budapest, the Hungarian Football Association have announced.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Denes Dibusz (Ferencvaros), Peter Gulacsi (Leipzig), Adam Kovacsik (Videoton), Balazs Megyeri (Greuter Furth)
Defenders: Barnabas Bese (Le Havre), Endre Botka (Ferencvaros), Attila Fiola (Videoton), Szilveszter Hangya (Vasas), Tamas Kadar (Dinamo Kyev), David Kalnoki-Kis (Ujpest), Mihaly Korhut (Hapoel Beer-Seva), Adam Lang (Dijon), Adam Pinter (Greuter Furth), Paulo Vinicius (Videoton)
Midfielders: Zoltan Gera (Ferencvaros), David Holman (Debrecen), Zsolt Kalmar (Brondby), Laszlo Kleinheisler (Ferencvaros), Gergo Lovrencsics (Ferencvaros), Adam Nagy (Bologna), Roland Sallai (Palermo)
Forwards: Balazs Dzsudzsak (al-Vahda), Adam Gyurcso (Szczecin), Marton Eppel (Honved), Krisztian Nemeth (Al-Garafa), Tamas Priskin (Slovan Bratislava), Adam Szalai (Hoffenheim) (Reporting by Zoltan Fazekas; Editing by Toby Davis)
