The Latvian U21 men’s national football team kicked off the second round of the 2023 European Championship (EC) qualifiers in Krakow on Tuesday, experiencing the biggest loss of the cycle. Latvia conceded to its Polish peers with 0: 5 (0: 3).
In the eighth minute of the corner kick, the team’s Polish captain Maksims Toņiševs threw the ball into the goal. The home crowd was overwhelmed and the tension at the gate guarded by Rudolf Soloh was almost constant. In the 31st minute, Rihards Ozoliņš knocked down Adrian Benedicak, who revealed the result a minute later. Soloha jumped to the side of the goal, but Benedic chuck the ball into the right corner of the goal – 1: 0 in favor of Poland.
At the end of the half, the result became devastating. In the 45th minute, the pressure of the poles on the goal ended with the center of Mihala Skuras and no unscrupulous shot by Lukash Bejger from the head of the goal area – 2: 0 after the ball arrived at the goal along the right goal post. Already in the next minute the result was 3: 0 in favor of the home team. Another center ended with a shot by Kacper Kozlovsky, which was blocked by Soloha, but the first to bounce the ball was Kacper Spevak, sending it to the half-empty goal – 3: 0.
At half-time, the Poles hit the Latvian team’s goal 18 times, hitting the goal frame six times. Latvians never even reached the gates of Poland. For the first time on the Polish goal, Latvia scored only in the 49th minute in the person of Eduards Daškevičs, to which Poland responded with the fourth goal, scoring Kozlovskis after a pass from Jakub Kaminski. He played Emil Birka with a deceptive move and beat him and Soloham past the goal in the lower right corner – 4: 0. The fifth goal fell in the 63rd minute, sending the ball from the penalty area in the lower left corner of the goal to Sppak, who was the second goal in the match – 5: 0.
In other group games on Tuesday, Germany defeated San Marino and Israel defeated Hungary. Maliks Tiavs, Eriks Šuranovs, Jonathan Burkarts and Jan Tīlmanis scored 4: 0 (3: 0) in the German victory over San Marino. In the victory of Israel at home over Hungary with 3: 0 (1: 0) Arad Bars scored two goals in favor of the home team, and one – Zohar Zasano.
In Group B, after six rounds, Germany and Israel are in the lead with 15 points, followed by Poland with 13 points, Hungary is in fourth place with seven points, Latvia has won three points, while San Marino has no points.
In the first mutual game, Latvia conceded to the Poles at home with 0: 2. In the first round, the Latvians won one victory, beating San Marino 2: 0. Germany lost 1: 3, Israel lost 1: 2 and Hungary’s superiority was acknowledged in the last match with 0: 1. Apart from the victory over Latvia, Poland has defeated San Marino with 3: 0 and Germany with 4: 0, played with Hungary (2: 2) and bowed to Israel with 1: 2.
Dāvis Cucurs, Raivis Ķiršs and Renārs Varslavāns cannot help the Latvian national team – the first two are injured, but the third has been called up to an adult state unit. Kirill Ilyin, his teammate, has been called to the place of Cucura, Jēkabs Lagūns is the place of Ķiršs, and Nick Dusalijev is the place of Warsaw.
Compared to the games of the previous month, the Latvian team’s initial list of candidates does not include Rolandas Boča, who assists the Latvian U-19 national team, but defender Artūrs Ļotčikovs has been present.
This is the second U21 European Championship, with 16 teams qualifying for the final. The final tournament will take place in Georgia and Romania. 53 European national teams are taking part in the qualification, competing for 14 places in the final tournament. The winners of all nine groups will qualify, as well as the best second place winner. The other eight runners-up will be determined by four more finalists.
Composition of the Latvian U21 football team for the November games:
goalkeepers – Frank Dāvis Orols (“Daugavpils”), Rūdolfs Soloha (Legnica “Miedz-2”, Poland), Jānis Beks (“Metta”);
guards – Emīls Birka, Normunds Uldriķis (all – “Metta”), Roberts Veips (without club), Maksims Toņiševs, Rūdolfs Zeņģis (both – “Valmiera”), Klāvs Kramēns, Artūrs Ļotčikovs (both – Jūrmala “Spartaks”), Kirill Ilyin, Edgars Ivanovs (both – “Daugavpils”);
midfielders – Rihards Ozoliņš, Dmitrijs Zelenkovs, Iļja Korotkovs (both – “Metta”), Jēkabs Lagūns (“Bischofshofen”), Bogdans Samoilovs (“Auda”), Deniss Melnik (Jūrmala “Spartaks”), “Niks Dusalijs” , Eduard Dashkevich (HamKam, Norway);
attackers – Kristers Lūsiņš (“Metta”), Kaspars Kokins (“Daugavpils”).
