TALLINN - The Levadia Tallinn soccer club traveled to Newcastle, England on Sept. 28 in the hope of furthering their position in the group stage of the UEFA Cup. Although they put up a valiant effort, Levadia Tallinn were unable to knock Newcastle United out of the first round match. They did put up a mighty fight, though, securing one goal on the scoreboard to Newcastle's two.
The final score read 3-1 in Newcastle's favor, adjusted for the competition's aggregate system.
The game seemed headed to a goal-free write-off, with neither team sending a ball to the back of the net within the first half.
But at the 47th minute, Newcastle's Obafemi Martins headed a corner, sneaking past Levadia keeper Artur Kotenko.
The Estonians immediately sprang into action. It took less than a minute for Vladimir Voskoboinikov to steal the ball and take a tantalizingly close shot at the goal box, only to be rebuffed by Newcastle's keeper Steve Harper.
Newcastle fattened their score with another goal after Martins threw a left-foot shot into the goal on the 50 minute mark, firing the ball from the twenty yards out, off the crossbar and into the net.
Levadia's moment of excitement came in the 65th minute, when substitute player Indrek Zelinski headed a ball from Tihhon Sissov, sending it through the hands of Harper.
But the goal came too late in the game to save Estonia.
The British sports media praised two goals by Newcastle's Martins, the Nigerian sriker who was recruited from the Italian team Inter Milan for a fat check of 10 million pounds.
Martins' goals against Levadia were his first since signing with Newcastle after a long goal drought all summer. Some critics were beginning to question the value of Newcastle's aquistion, but his points against Estonia helped push the team further along in their quest to claim the UEFA Cup.
"I am very happy. I have been waiting for it since I came to Newcastle, to score in a home game. I did not have any pressure, I was just trying to help the team. All the fans were waiting for was for me to score goals, so I am very glad that I have scored today," said Martins, who earlier celebrated his goals by somersaulting across the field.
Meanwhile, Estonia's national soccer team has named a full-strength squad to take on Russia in St. Petersburg in the UEFA EURO 2008 competition qualifying match.
National coach Jelle Goes was unable to include Urmas Rooba, who is recovering from injury, or Joel Lindpere, who has been suspended by the Estonian Football Association after assaulting a referee.
Star player Mart Poom, who plays at club level for Arsenal in the UK, will return to goal duties for the match against Russia.
The team will play a friendly match against the Dutch club Eredivisie in Tallinn on Oct. 6 in preparation.
Estonia has yet to put any points on the board in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA 2008 competition, losing home games to FYR Macedonia and Israel.
