Latvia and Estonia in different leagues

  • 2004-04-08
  • By TBT staff
TALLINN-RIGA - The friendly matches played by the Latvian and Estonian national soccer teams on March 31 showed just how mixed their fortunes are right now.

When Latvia beat Slovenia 1-0 in an impressive away performance in Celje, it showed that its qualification for Euro 2004 in Portugal this summer was no mere fluke.
"Even though we did not show all our best qualities, we still played rather well. Astafjev delighted us a lot with how he controlled the situation in the middle of the field. I was also very pleased with our defense. Among them the goalie Aleksandrs Kolinko was a real leader," Latvian coach Aleksandrs Starkovs said.
The only goal of the game was scored in the 36th minute by Maris Verpakovskis, who can hardly put a foot wrong at the moment. Latvia's next game in its Euro 2004 build- up will be against Ireland on April 28 in Riga.
The Estonian national soccer team, meanwhile, showed how charitable it could be when it gifted Northern Ireland with its first victory in 16 matches.
Watching at the AleCoq Arena, Estonia's best soccer stadium, security staff at the game seemed more interest in bursting the green balloons released by Northern Ireland fans than following events on the pitch.
From the whistle, the visitors' superiority was obvious, even though the Northern Ireland coach Lawrence Sanchez used the game as an opportunity to try out a number of young and inexperienced players.
Estonia predominantly relied on long ball tactics, and was simply unable to oppose the superior passing and dribbling skills of the visitors. After one of the most promising attacks by the Estonians in the second minute of the first-half injury time, which resulted in their losing the ball some 20 meters away from goal, the visitors started a neat counterattack that finished with a wonderful 20-meter strike from David Healy's. Northern Ireland 1- Estonia 0. End of story.Roy Carroll, the first choice goalkeeper for Northern Ireland, couldn't play because of commitments with Manchester United, as couldn't Estonia's Mart Poom, who plays for Sunderland.