The basis of the historical success of the Latvian hockey team, reaching the semi-finals of the world championship, is the team, and there has never been such a cohesive team. This was emphasized after the game by the players, head coach Harijs Vītoliņš, and the management of the Latvian Hockey Federation.
It has already been announced that on Thursday, May 25, the Latvian hockey team beat the Swedish team with a score of 3:1 in the quarter-finals of the World Championship in the crowded “Rīga Arena”. This means that the Latvian hockey players will play one game at a time on Saturday and Sunday, fighting for one of the prizes.
After the match, Sweden’s hockey players walked through the media area with their faces down, but as soon as they entered the locker room, sticks were being broken. Joyful shouts could be heard from the Latvian dressing room from time to time, and the hockey players who talked to the journalists made it known that they wanted to go to the other team. “We want to get there as soon as possible,” said Rodrigo Abol.
On the other hand, Ralfs Freiberg stated after the match that he did not want to talk about the match itself right away, because “we will do the analysis tomorrow.” The word “team” came up most often in the post-match interviews, and Abols explained what made this team different from previous years.
“There is no ego, everyone puts the team before themselves,” said Abols. “The way we blocked pucks, the way we fought for each other. Someone earns a rejection, but we take it. Nobody gets offended, pushes each other forward, and it results. I’ve never played on a team like that.”
What Abolas said was also confirmed by Christian Rubin, who rushed to help the national team immediately after the end of the season in North America. Jumping into a moving train is not the easiest task, and for Rubin it happened at a very fast pace. He finished the season last Saturday, on Monday he was already in Riga, and on Tuesday he participated in the decisive game for entering the quarter-finals against Switzerland. “They all helped me get through the sleepless nights and the time difference. Hats off to them. I have to thank them for giving me the opportunity. They won the position, all I had to do was step in and do my best to help the team win,” said Rubin.
The formation of team unity happened from the first day of the training camp, when clear rules were established. “If someone doesn’t like something, if someone doesn’t want to do something, then maybe they can say in time that they have to go on vacation,” head coach Harijs Vītoliņš was direct.
Freiberg highlighted one more fact that may have remained unmentioned before.
2023-05-25 22:18:37
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