European Football Championships | Hungary’s Martin Ádám was subjected to body shaming

Dortmund

Top soccer player is a stereotypically tough looking athlete. When someone deviates from that norm, it is celebrated on social media. The flip side is that the unusual-looking futaa also receives inappropriate body shaming.

Hungarian Martin Adam doesn’t look like an ordinary football player – let’s say it right now. When he entered the field on Saturday in the 79th minute in the European Championship match against Switzerland, social media was filled with wonder. Some of the supporters seemed downright infatuated with Ádám.

The 191-centimeter and 86-kilogram Ádám is an impressive sight in his red beard. The 29-year-old top player looks like a big guy.

Hungarian soccer reporter Borbola Bence says he noticed the international audience’s astonishment towards Ádám.

“It was a small surprise for me. I know him for a long time, and he has been in the national team for some years. This is not his first time in the national team, but it seems that the fans are focusing on him now”, says Bence.

“He has an interesting style with the beard. He is a very strong player.”

It seems that the majority of international fans have interpreted Ádám’s appearance to mean that he is overweight.

“He looks overweight, but he really isn’t. He’s always been like this. She told me she was like this as a child. It is his strength that he is very strong and good at protecting the ball.”

Ádám is indeed a good scorer, as in his professional career he has scored 108 goals in 331 matches for club teams. At the beginning of his professional career, he wasn’t much of a goalscorer, scoring just under a dozen goals per season at Vasas FC.

A transfer to Kaposvári Rákóczi FC opened the scoring taps once and for all. In the 2021–2022 season, he scored 31 goals in 32 matches and won the Hungarian League goal exchange.

“That’s why he became popular in Hungary. He is a very honest guy and knows that he will never be the best player. He knows that he can help the national team with his own style of play,” says Bence.

For the past three years, he has played in the Korean League and won two championships with Ulsan HD. Ádám has played 22 matches in the national team and scored three goals.

According to Bence, Ádám’s appearance is no longer talked about in Hungary. Maybe in the first years Ádám was asked about it, but now it is no longer a topic of conversation. He is simply a good striker for the national team, which does not have a lot of options for the main position. Barnabas Varga is the number one striker, and Ádám is then the next best option.