Estonia loses big match with own goal

TALLINN - Estonia lost 4-2 in a World Championship 2002 qualifier against the Netherlands on June 2. Both teams scored the same number of goals; the Estonians scored an own goal. In a tough game against such a well-known soccer giant, the Estonians did excellently to score the first three goals even if one of these was in their own net. They led for much of the game, until the Dutch team scored twice in the last five minutes.

The recent trauma of Mart Poom, the main goalkeeper of the team - currently playing for Derby County in the U.K. - may have been a bad omen for the team. But the substitute, Martin Kaalma, did his best to defend the fiercely attacked Estonian goal and made over 10 great saves.

Holland obviously dominated the field, but in the 65th minute the very first serious shot the Estonians made at the Dutch goal brought a tremendous roar from the nearly 9,300-strong crowd gathered at the new Lillekula stadium, opened just the day before the game. The ball, booted with tremendous drive by Andres Oper, who plays for Aalborg BK in Denmark, sank comfortably into the back of the net.

Unfortunately, his colleague Raio Piiroja broke the Estonian leadership barely three minutes later by heading the ball into his own goal after a powerful shot by Frank de Boer.

Indrek Zelinski, a forward with Estonia's F.C.Flora, skillfully realized a pass from Oper in the 78th minute, blasting away the goal of Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar from a distance of just three meters.

Ruud van Nistelrooij confirmed he was worth the title of most expensive player in the U.K. league by upsetting the Estonian goalkeeper and most of the spectators twice, with two shots at close range in the 86th and 90th minutes.

Patrick Kluivert from F.C.Barcelona headed in the third goal for the Dutch in the 90th minute. Seconds after the Estonians passed the ball back from the center circle, young defender Taavi Rahn made a crucial mistake for his team and let Nistelrooij take control of the ball and shoot from a distance of eight meters. It was the first game on the national side for 20-year-old Rahn.

In a news conference after the game, Estonian coach Arno Pijpers, who is Dutch by origin, said it had been a great game, but it had been difficult for him to oppose his compatriots from the Netherlands.

Estonia and Holland are in Group Two of the World Championship qualifiers. Ireland, Holland and Portugal are the current leaders with 15, 14 and 12 points respectively. Estonia and Cyprus have seven points while Andorra has no points yet.

Estonia plays Ireland, after The Baltic Times goes to press, on June 6 at Lillekula stadium, with nearly 2,500 Irish fans arriving for the game on five special flights.

The Estonian and Dutch under-21 teams played at Lillekula a day earlier. The Netherlands defeated Estonia 5-0.

The Estonian soccer news portal soccernet.ee stated that F.C.Barcelona, one of Europe's best soccer clubs, might buy Piiroja in the near future. The portal referred to an anonymous source involved in the Estonian soccer business as saying that a Barcelona representative attended the match against the Dutch especially to evaluate the 21-year-old midfielder.

Aivar Pohlak, the president of F.C.Flora, which Piiroja currently plays for, declined to comment on the case but said that interest in good players like Piiroja always existed. He declined to say whether the player's own goal might negatively influence any decision made by Barcelona.

Lillekula, a 15,000-seat stadium, is still under construction, with two more stand levels to be installed and an interior service area with shops and rest rooms to be completed this summer.

The whole stadium complex includes four more training fields and several auxiliary facilities, and costs 170 million kroons ($9.2 million). It will not be fully complete until 2003.