In the sixth minute, it was easy for Armenia to start an attack and Nair Tiknizyans played in the penalty area, where Vaans Bicakhchyans beat the Latvian goalkeeper Rihard Matrevic from close range, putting Armenia in the lead.
Shortly after that, the Latvians got a corner kick, which was taken by debutant Lukas Vapne. He managed a successful cross to the front of the goal and Roberts Uldrikis got to the ball, who hit the ball in the direction of the Armenian goal. The ball was also touched by the player of the Armenian team, Georgi Arutunyan, who was credited with the ball in his own goal.
In the 22nd minute, the yellow card was earned by Vapne, who tried to kick the ball to the opponent, but in an unfortunate episode he tripped one of the Armenian footballers.
Towards the end of the first half, in the 35th minute, Kaspars Dubra tried to pass back to the goal for Matrevic, but he was too far and the ball rolled into the Latvian goal, the Armenians regaining the lead.
Five minutes later, the Latvians counter-attacked and Uldriķis had the opportunity to run alone towards the goalkeeper, but the back was fixed, preventing the Latvian from completing the attack.
The second half also started with a goal from Armenia, making it 3:1. The first Armenian shot was saved by Matrevics and with the second attempt, Lukas Selarajan sent the ball into the Latvian goal.
In an effort to change the situation on the field, the Latvian national team made four changes and Dmitrijs Zelenkovs, Daniels Balodis, Vladislavs Gutkovskis and Roberts Savalnieks went on the field, replacing Vapni, Dubra, Eduard Daškevičs and Alvi Jaunzemas.
In the 69th minute, Jānis Ikaunieks earned a yellow card, who answered one of the opponents with an unsportsmanlike act.
Gutkovsky continued to attack the Armenian goal, but his shot was weak and was easily saved by the opposing goalkeeper. The Armenians also succeeded in a counterattack, which was stopped by Matrevic.
Less than five minutes before the end of regular time, Armenia came close to the fourth goal, Eduard Spercyans scoring from the penalty area.
After the match with Armenia on September 10, the Latvians will host the Faroe Islands at the “Skonto” stadium.
So far, Latvia has competed with Armenia four times, with the Latvian national team winning two, drawing once and losing once.
In the first three seasons of the UEFA Nations League, the Latvian national team competed in the D League, from which they managed to get out in 2022, when they were defeated in the group with Moldova, Andorra and Liechtenstein. This year, the national team of Latvia has been drawn in group C4 together with North Macedonia, Armenia and the Faroe Islands.
The winner of the group will enter the B league, but the owner of the last place will have to participate in the play-offs to keep the place in the C league.
List of candidates for the Latvian men’s football team:
goalkeepers – Rihards Matrevics (“Riga”), Frank Dāvids Orols (“Daugavpils”), Roberts Ozols (“Qizilqum” of Zarafshona, Uzbekistan);
defenders – Kaspars Dubra (“Panevezys”, Lithuania), Roberts Savalnieks, Daniels Balodis (both – RFS), Andrejs Tsiganiks (“Luzern”, Switzerland), Raivis Andris Jurkovskis, Antonijs Chernomordys, Kirils Ilyin (all – “Riga”) Alvis Jaunzems (Melec “Stal”, Poland), Kristers Tobers (Zurich “Grasshoppers”, Switzerland), Maksims Toniševs, Emils Birka (both – “Valmiera”);
midfielders – Aleksej Saveljevs, Denis Melniks (both – “Auda”), Mārtiņš ħigurs, Dmitrijs Zelenkovs, Jānis Ikaunieks (all – RFS), Renārs Varslavāns, Lukas Vapne (both – “Valmiera”), Eduards Daškėvičs (“Riga”), Eduards Emsis (“Raufoss”, Norway);
forwards – Marko Regža (“Riga”), Roberts Uldričis (“Kallithea” of Athens, Greece), Vladislavs Gutkovskis (“Citizen” of Daejeon, South Korea).
2024-09-10 05:40:36