Latvian U21 Football Team | Photo: LFF
The Latvian U21 football team started the Baltic Cup on Friday in Valmiera with a win against fellow Estonians. Latvia defeated Estonia 1:0 (1:0).
Lukass Vapne scored the only goal on the snowy pitch in the 45th minute following a pass from Kristian Kaušelis from the left side of the penalty area. The ball hit the goalkeeper, but Daniil Sotsugov then tried to knock it wide too late. In the second match, on Sunday in Kaunas, the Latvian footballers will play against Lithuania.
In the first match of the Baltic Cup on Wednesday, Estonia defeated Lithuania 5:1 (3:1) at home. Estonia have picked up three points from two games and Latvia in their only game, while Lithuania have one defeat and zero points.
Coach Alexander Basov has invited 23 players from seven national clubs and Norway to the training camp, which started last weekend.
In June, the Latvian U-21 national team finished the qualifying tournament for the 2023 European Championship, where they competed against fellow Poles. In the home game, Latvia conceded 0:2, but in the away game they recognized the superiority of their opponents with 0:5. In September, ten players made their U21 debuts in a test match away from home against Poland (1:1), eight of whom were called up for the next tournament.
The Baltic Cup for U21 national teams is being held for the first time since 2018, when Lithuania won, but Latvia finished as runners-up. In 2016, Latvia was the best in the tournament. Basov is assisted in the tournament by Sergejs Golubevs and former Latvian national team leader Aleksandrs Cauņa.
List of candidates for the Latvian U-21 national team:
Goalkeepers: Jānis Beks (“Metta”), Sergejs Vilkovs (“Tukums 2000″/”Telms”), Nikita Sharanins (“Daugavpils”);
Defenders: Yegors Novikovs (“Auda”), Aleksejs Kudelkins, Rinalds Aizups (both – “Daugavpils”), Ilya Semyonovs (Salaspils “Super Nova”), Rudolfs Reingolcs, Niks Sliede (both – “Tukums 2000″/”Telms”) , Oskar Vienties (“Metta”);
Midfielders: Eduards Daškevičs (“Hamarkameratene”, Norway), Maksims Fyodorovs, Kaspars Anmanis (all – “Tukums 2000″/”Telms”), Deniss Melniks, Artūrs Ostapenko (both – Jūrmala “Spartaks”), Yevgenijs Minins (Salaspils “Super Nova”), Olģerts Raščevskis (“Valmiera”), Kristofers Rēkis (“Metta”), Lukas Vapne (“Valmiera”), Glebs Žaleiko (RFS);
Forwards: Valerijs Lizunovs (“Daugavpils”), Kristiāns Kaušelis, Markus Kruglaųjs (both – “Tukums 2000″/”Telms”).
