Cheers of Grobina footballers.
Photo: FK Liepāja
Ilmārs Stūriška, “Latvijas Avīze”, JSC “Latvijas Mediji”
Won in the most principled battle – “Grobiņas SC” eliminated the packed “Liepāja” from the further battle with the legionnaires in the round of 16 of the Latvian Cup football.
“Grobiņas SC”, starting in the first league, scored a draw in the 84th minute by Kristers Volkov, and during the compensation period, Roberts Meļķis won – 2:1. 17 out of 18 players registered for the game in Grobiņa have graduated from the Liepāja football school, but are not part of the Premier League team. That’s why this victory is especially sweet.
“The audience in Liepāja is not satisfied that there are no locals in the team. Even in the stadium, I felt uncomfortable that the entire stand supported Grobin. There was no need to motivate anyone, they understood that they were from Liepaja and they were playing against Liepaja, where there are no locals,” said “Grobinas” head coach Viktors Dobretsovs to “Latvijas Avīze”, agreeing that this duel was almost like a final for his team. “With such a budget, you have to dig the ground, but the legionnaires do not understand what Liepāja is, they will earn money and leave. The team is changing, the coach, they got lost a long time ago, before we lost to “Tukum”, barely won “Super Nova”, lost in the Eurocups. As a coach, it was very easy for me to adapt to the opponent.” He emphasizes that this victory does not mean that Grobiņa players could play well in the Super League, but several players from Grobiņa should definitely find a place in the “Liepāja” team, and not rely only on foreigners.
“Liepāja” won its only Latvian championship title under the leadership of Dobretsov in 2015, but the following season was his last in the position. Since then, the team has changed its head coach ten times, Dobretsov has not been given a second chance.
In the first league, “Grobiņas SC” is in fourth place, but in front of them are the backups of “Riga” and “Valmieras”, which are out of competition, so that in fact it is second place and a playoff for getting to the top league. “This is one of my main tasks. We are not financially ready for the Premier League, but it is important that the young players see their abilities, play against a Premier League team,” said the coach. Four of his students have graduated from high school and will move to Riga with the new school year. In the summer, we also have to do without our son David Dobretsov, who with five goals is one of the best snipers in the first league. “He is studying and in the summers he goes to work with his relatives in England to earn money for the next school year,” explained his father.
In the 2-0 victory of “Valmiera” against “Riga”, the main hero was the goalkeeper Klāvs Lauva, who comes from the windy city. His debut in the ranks of the Valmyers turned out to be historic – Rihards Matrevics earned a red card in the third minute for a foul in the penalty area. After entering the field, Lauva saved a 11-meter penalty kick and acted safely in the continuation as well. “Valmiera”, playing in the minority, created even more dangerous moments and realized two of them, with Aliūns Ndoje and Krister Penkevics excelling.
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