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The Latvian men’s U-21 team in the qualifying tournament of the European Football Championship in Sofia on Friday at the beginning of the second half after Marko Regža’s second yellow card remained in the minority and gave way to his peers from Bulgaria.
Bulgaria beat Latvia 1: 0 (0: 0) in Sofia.
In the second minute after Jānis Grīnbergs hit, the ball shook the goal structure, and it was the home team who was closest to losing the goal in the whole match.
Already in the sixth minute the ball could have penetrated into the Latvian goal, when, interrupting the Bulgarian pass, Dmitrijs Litvinskis almost sent the ball into his goal.
In the 47th minute, the second yellow card was earned in this match in four minutes Marko Regža, leaving the guests in the minority, but also in the future there was little goal scoring.
However, Zdravko Dimitrova made a spectacular save. The scorer was Zdravko Dimitrova. Vjačeslavs Kudrjavcevs rebounded the ball shortly into the back of the net. However, Staņislavs Ivanovs scored 1 – 0 after Georgija Ruseva scored from the penalty spot. The goalkeeper was powerless.
In another game of the group, the leader Russia beat Estonia with 4: 0 (4: 0), but Serbia defeated Poland with 1: 0 (1: 0).
In the overall ranking of group E, Russia takes the first place with 20 points in nine games, Poland has 16 points in eight duels, and Bulgaria has 14 points in eight battles. Serbia has 11 points in nine matches and Estonia and Latvia have four points in eight games.
The Latvian U-21 national team started the qualifying tournament 1: 2 against Estonia, followed by 0: 0 against Bulgaria, but Russia lost 0: 2. After this game, the Latvians won twice – 2: 2 against Serbia and 1: 1 against Estonia.
Meanwhile, the Bulgarians started the tournament with a 0: 1 loss against Serbia, followed by a 3-0 victory over Poland after a draw, but the Russian peers lost 0: 2. In the last game, the Bulgarians beat the Serbs 2: 1.
A draw 0: 0 was so far the only meeting of the state units so far.
On October 4, the Latvian national team started a training camp, in which 24 players from 12 different clubs trained at the disposal of Alexander Basov. Four of the footballers were registered in foreign clubs, but the same number of players were from “Daugavpils” and “Valmiera” teams.
Latvian footballers flew to Bulgaria on Wednesday, but will return home on Saturday to prepare for the game with their Russian peers, which is scheduled for October 13.
The last qualifying tournament game is scheduled for November 17 against Poland. However, the Latvian national team has already lost even theoretical opportunities to qualify for the final tournament.
Basov is assisted in the national team by coaches – Dāvis Caune, Vladimirs Žavoronkovs and Sergejs Golubevs – as well as goalkeeper coach Andrejs Piedels.
Latvian U-21 national team candidates for participation in the 2021 European Championship qualification tournament:
goalkeepers – Vyacheslav Kudryavtsev (Olsztyn “Stomil”, Poland), Rudolf Soloha (“Valmiera”), Nils Toms Puriņš (“Riga”);
protectors – Ivo Minkevičs (“Jelgava”), Emīls Birka, Roberts Ķipsts (both – “Metta”), Roberts Veips (“Sampdoria”, Italy), Dmitrijs Litvinskis (“Ventspils”), Dāvis Cucurs (“Daugavpils”), Daniels Balodis (“Valmiera”), Vladislavs Soloveičiks (“Jelgava”);
midfielders – Jānis Grīnbergs (“Jelgava”), Aleksejs Saveļjevs (“Mantova 1911”, Italy), Kristaps Liepa (“Valmiera”), Maksims Toņiševs, Raivis Ķiršs (both – “Daugavpils”), Dmitrijs Zelenkovs (without club), Raivis Skrebels (Jūrmala “Spartaks”), Renārs Varslavāns (RFS), Rihards Ozoliņš (“Metta”), Eduards Daškevičs (“Anderlecht”, Belgium);
attackers – Marko Regža (“Daugavpils”), Kaspars Kokins (“Ventspils”), Daniils Skopenko (“Valmiera”).
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