Due to injuries, Kaspars Dubra and Vladislavs Gutkovskis will not be able to help the Latvian national team in November, while Kristers Tobers will be busy at his Polish club. All other regular members of the Latvian national team, who represent foreign clubs on a daily basis, will be able to join the national team.
Compared to the list of players from the September camp, Renārs Varslavāns and Ilya Korotkovs are returning to the national team this time, while goalkeeper Nils Toms Puriņš and defender Ivo Minkevičs have been invited to the national team for the first time. They, along with Daniel Balodi, Emil Birk, Korotkov and Maksim Tonisheva, are among the six potential debutants in this camp.
The head coach of the Latvian men’s football team, Dainis Kazakevičs, wants to start a new phase in the national team in the camp before the Baltic Cup, preparing for the next year’s tournaments, the coach noted at the press conference held on Thursday.
“Our plan was to assemble the strongest squad, there was no thought about not calling up any players. Gutkowski is injured and I think he will not play for a while, being treated for a knee injury during the World Cup break. Meanwhile, Tober has a postponed game in the Polish Championship, which will be played at this time On November 18,” Kazakeviča commented on the fact that Polish club footballers did not play in the Baltic Cup.
“This is the last camp before the next qualification cycle. In this camp, we will start a new period, preparing for the following years. Maybe some footballers will have a different playing time,” continued Kazakevičs.
Among the goalkeepers, Nils Toms Puriņš earned his first call-up to the national team, as well as the experienced Pavel Šteinbors and Rihards Matrevics, who played one game in the national team. This time, Krišjāņas Zviedra will not be in the national team.
“Puriņš has had a very good season. We know the quality of Sweden, but we wanted to expand the circle with goalkeepers who work for the national team,” said Kazakevičs.
Commenting on the non-calling up of defender Vitalys Jagodinskis, Kazakevičs revealed that the inclusion of the RFS football player in the national team was not considered in this camp either.
“This tournament will give us the opportunity to find answers to the questions about the selection of center backs. We have enough players of this position who have been in the national team camp and have proven themselves. After this camp, I will be able to outline further solutions in this position more concretely,” admitted the coach.
Center defender Ilya Korotkovs is in the national team with the midfielders this time. “The issue of central midfielder competition is very relevant in our national team and it must be addressed. It is a position in which it is difficult to adapt players without sufficient playing experience. Ilya is currently more in the support midfielder position and we see him there, but he can also compete in the central defender position ,” Kazakevics said about Korotkov’s inclusion in the national team as a midfielder.
Forwards playing in foreign countries are not having a very successful season, for example Dāvis Ikaunieks has joined the backup team of the Czech club “Jablonec”, while Roberts Uldriķis, who played productively in the previous season, has not scored a goal this season. Gutkowski scored four goals in the Polish championship game at the weekend, but the season up to that point has not been stable for him both in terms of performance and minutes played.
Kazakevičs highlighted Raimonds Kroļļ’s performance – the forward of “Valmiera” will become the top scorer of this season’s Premier League.
“In the competition with sufficiently skilled foreign players, our player – Krollis – is on the first place in the list of top scorers. I don’t think it’s unimportant. Of course, a striker who scores goals comes to the national team in a good mood and shape, confident in his abilities. On the other hand, another , who doesn’t score goals, comes to the national team motivated to end this streak. This situation changes from camp to camp and each case is individual. Analyzing the situation, for example, Uldrikis doesn’t have many goal-scoring moments and the team’s performance is not the best either. There are better and worse periods in clubs, which of course the national team coaches have to analyze, but this is not decisive,” Kazakevičs explained.
Also, the head coach of the national team noted that the Baltic Cup tournament has three goals – the sporting goal, giving individual players the opportunity to prove themselves and adapting certain elements of the game that could be used in the March matches in the qualification for the 2024 European Championship. A test match is also planned for the national team before this cycle, but no contract has been concluded yet.
The Latvian national team will start the tournament on November 16 with a match at the “Daugavas” stadium in Riga, where they will meet Estonia. The opponents of the match on November 19 and the venue will depend on the outcome of the match.
On November 16, two semi-final matches Latvia – Estonia and Lithuania – Iceland will be played. The winners of both duels will compete in the final on November 19, while the losers of the semifinals will play each other for third place on the same day. In case of a draw, penalty kicks will be played without extra time.
In the event that the Latvian national team meets Iceland on November 19, the match will take place right there at the “Daugavas” stadium. If the opponent of the match of the Latvian national team on November 19 is Lithuania, the match will take place on the opponent’s field.
Estonia is the national team that Latvia has played against most often, with both teams competing 60 times. Latvia won 28 times, a draw was recorded 21 times, and Estonians won 11 times. The goal difference is 94:62 in favor of the Latvian national team.
Latvia also has a positive balance against Lithuania. In the 56 matches played so far, 29 victories have been won by the Latvian national team, 15 matches have been celebrated by Lithuania, and 12 times there have been draws. The goal difference is 119:77 in favor of Latvia.
The Latvian national team has played six times with Iceland, which is competing in the tournament this time. Latvia won twice, a draw was recorded twice, and the Icelanders were superior twice. The goal difference is also similar (11:11).
The Baltic Cup is the oldest national football tournament still taking place in the world. The Baltic Cup was played for the first time in 1928. In the past, the tournament was held every year, but since the turn of the century, teams compete every couple of years for the honor of the best national team in the region.
The current owner of the trophy is Estonia, but the previous four times the cup went to the Latvian national team.
Latvian national team candidates for the Baltic Cup:
Goalkeepers: Pavel Šteinbor (RFS), Rihards Matrevics (“Valmiera”), Nils Toms Puriņš (“Riga”);
Defenders: Igors Tarasovs (“Ypsonas”, Cyprus), Roberts Savalnieks (“Liepāja”), Raivis Andris Jurkovskis, Antonijs Chernomodijs (both – “Riga”), Elvis Stuglis, Vladislavs Sorokins (both – RFS), Daniels Balodis, Emils Birka (both – “Valmiera”), Ivo Minkevich (“Auda”);
Midfielders: Ilya Korotkovs (“Riga”), Artūrs Zyuzins (RFS), Jānis Ikaunieks (Kuopio “Palloseura”, Finland), Andrejs Tsiganiks (“FC DAC 1904”, Slovakia), Alvis Jaunzems (“Valmiera”), Eduards Emsis (“Lahti “, Finland), Aleksej Savelyev (“Auda”), Renars Varslavans (RFS), Maksim Tonishev (“Valmiera”);
Forwards: Dāvis Ikaunieks (“Jablonec”, Czech Republic), Roberts Uldriķis (“Cambuur” of Leeuwarden, Netherlands), Raimonds Krollis (“Valmiera”).
