It was a great opportunity to play the game with a very strong opponent, and if you are afraid of losing, there is no point in playing with such opponents, Dainis Kazakevičs, the head coach of the Latvian national team, emphasized at the post-match press conference in Düsseldorf on Monday after the loss against German footballers.
The Latvian men’s national football team capitulated to the German national team 1: 7 (0: 5) in a test match on Monday in Düsseldorf.
Aleksejs Savļjevs scored his first goal in the Latvian national team.
Meanwhile, Robin Gozens, Ilka Gindoan, Thomas Miller, Kay Havver, Serge Njabri, Timo Werner and Lyrei Sane stood out in the German team. Opponent goalkeeper Manuel Neier played his 100th game in the national team.
“It was a great opportunity to play a game with a very strong opponent, and if there is a fear of losing, there is no point in playing with such opponents. If almost no one in the basic team had more than 20 matches in the national team, then it must be concluded that our football players do not have much experience. Such a harsh experience is also an experience. It is important to learn the essential lessons for the future from this game. It must be understood that we played against the most titled team in Europe. There is no reason to regret holding such a game, ”Kazakevičs was not disappointed with the fact of the match against one of the favorites of the European Championship.
“It is clear that we are disappointed both in the game and in the result. Despite the shortage of several core players, we hoped to show more respectable resistance. We could not cope with the press near our square. There were two teams of different classes on the field, and the result reflects this difference, ”the coach continued.
He emphasized that there were problems in defense, because it could be seen that the Latvian state unit was not in the best condition in terms of function. This was also confirmed by the match with Lithuania, and it cost several lost goals.
Kazakevičs pointed out that, objectively, for a team like Latvia, the lack of five or six players is significant. He explained that in preparation for the game with Germany and understanding the level of skill of the players, the best option was sought.
The coach did not rule out that the Latvian team of coaches also made a mistake in choosing the basic staff. “However, the shortage of Jānis Ikaunieks, Kristeris Toberas and Roberts Savaļnieks, which we were preparing for the basic composition today, was noticeable. There was a lack of a leader to resist today, “said Kazakevich, noting that the reservists who went out on the field and played with gambling earned pluses.
The coach admitted that the Latvian national team played too sparingly.
“We respected our opponents too much – we lacked physical contact, we let them play. We played cleaner, we understood the status of the test match, but I am not satisfied because I wanted to play more aggressively. To a large extent, this also explains the great result, ”Kazakevičs would have liked a slightly different football on the pitch.
The green light for this game was given only a few hours before the start of the match. One positive case of Covid-19 was discovered in the Latvian team today, but all the results were negative in later express tests.
About 1,000 fans gathered at the stadium, where the second Bundesliga team Dusseldorf “Fortuna” is playing home games.
The German national team, which is preparing for the final tournament of the European Championship, fought a draw 1: 1 with Denmark in the test match on Wednesday. Latvia, on the other hand, defeated Lithuania 3: 1 in the first game of the Baltic Cup. After Monday’s duel, the two teams will lead in different directions – Germany will go to the European Championship, where they will compete with France, Portugal and Hungary, while Latvia will fly to Tallinn, where the second game of the Baltic Cup is expected on Friday.
Jānis Ikaunieks and Vladislavs Gutkovskis, who did not participate in the last game of the Baltic Cup, could not help the Latvian national team in this match. Robert Savaļnieks was left out of the application.
After the restoration of independence, Latvia had previously met with Germany once, playing a draw 0: 0 in the subgroup of the 2004 European Championship final tournament. The Germans won two test games in the 1930s.
The German national team is ranked 12th in the FIFA world rankings, but Latvia is in the 138th position.
The German national team triumphed in the 2014 World Cup and reached the semi-finals of the next European Championship, but three years ago it was already placed in the sub-group as a world champion. Germany is a four-time World Cup winner and a three-time European champion.
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