Liverpool’s latest Premier League title win was a first for a number of players, and for Dominik Szoboszlai and Kostas Tsimikas it was particularly significant.
In total, 14 players to feature in Liverpool’s title-winning campaign will lift the trophy for the first time in their careers.
Szoboszlai, Tsimikas, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, Ibrahima Konate, Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez, Federico Chiesa, Conor Bradley, Vitezslav Jaros and Jayden Danns are all included in that count.
It is a momentous occasion for all involved, but for Szoboszlai and Tsimikas it marks a small piece of history for their respective countries.
Szoboszlai is the first Hungarian player to win the Premier League title, while Tsimikas becomes the first Greek player to do so.
This means there are now 10 nationalities with only one title-winning representative since the current top flight began in 1992: Chile, Greece, Guinea, Hungary, Latvia, Liberia, Morocco, Romania, Senegal and South Africa.
Naby Keita and Sadio Mane joined that list as part of Liverpool’s champions of 2019/20.
Mario Balotelli is the only Italian to officially win the Premier League title in terms of the five-appearance threshold, but Chiesa will almost certainly join him as he is one game away.
The club will award medals to those who have not yet reached five appearances either way – so far Chiesa, Jaros and Danns – and could honour a handful of others too.
“The fact that Dominik won the league title as a regular for Liverpool put Hungarian football on the international map in a way that has not been seen for a long time,” Szoboszlai’s agent, Matyas Esterhazy, told Index.hu.
“With this success, Hungarian football has been placed on an even higher shelf, and it would be important to take advantage of this opportunity.
“Domi’s success also proves that with the right work and attitude, even from Hungary it is possible to reach the narrowest elite, and part of our mission is to show the way to Hungarian youth in this.”
Szoboszlai, who is also captain of his national team, set up two goals in Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Tottenham to bring his tally to five goals and six assists in 32 Premier League games this season.
Tsimikas did not make it off the bench on Sunday but has played 16 times in the league with one assist in January’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.
The left-back wrote on Instagram: “When dreams turn into history. Did what’s never been done. Scouse Greek!”
