The goal for Latvia was scored by substitute Dario Šits, who played only his second game for the Latvian national team.
After several attacks by the home team at the beginning of the match, the Latvians succeeded in counterattacking in the 16th minute, but at the end of it Roberts Uldrikis’ shot was stopped by the goalkeeper of the Faroe Islands.
Five minutes later, Renārs Varslavāns earned a free kick, after which Andrej Ciganik managed to play the ball into the penalty area, whose shot was blocked.
In the 39th minute, Viljormur Davidsen of the Faroe Islands could not stop Roberta Savalnieks without a foul and earned a yellow card.
Less than a minute later, Matrevics made a mistake in the pass and the home player Brandurs Hendriksons got the ball in the Latvian penalty area. He delivered the ball in front of the goal to Hanus Serensen, who with a strong shot delivered it to the Latvian goal and put the home team in the lead.
At the beginning of the second half, Jānis Ikaunieks received a yellow card after four minutes of play, but 13 minutes later, the Faroese player Joannes Bjartalids was also cautioned.
In the 66th minute, Ikauniek was replaced by Shits, who three minutes later in a counterattack after a pass from Ciganik, sent the ball into the goal of the Faroe Islands with the first touch, achieving a draw.
Approaching the closing ten minutes of regular time, the Latvians made several shots at the opponent’s goal during one attack, which were blocked, but Dmitry Zelenkov’s shot flew over the goal.
At the end of regular time, Raivis Andris Jurkovskis passed to the front of the goal to Shit, who did not reach the ball to make a good shot, and the ball did not enter the home team’s goal for the second time. During the compensation period, the Faroe Islands footballers controlled the ball at the Latvian goal, but the Latvians saved a draw.
It has already been reported that on Sunday, in another C4 group game, North Macedonia beat Armenia 2-0 away from home.
North Macedonia has ten points in four games, Armenia has scored four, Latvia has won four points, and the Faroe Islands have three points.
On Thursday, the Latvians lost 0:3 to North Macedonia in a similar game in Riga, while the Faroe Islands did not defend their victory over Armenia at home, which drew 2:2.
In Yerevan in September, the Latvian national team, making its debut in the C division of the UEFA Nations League, lost to Armenia 1:4 in the C4 group and defeated the Faroe Islands 1:0 at home. On the other hand, the Faroe Islands also took points away from the favorites in the first match, playing a 1:1 draw with North Macedonia at home.
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.
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.
Paolo Nicolato is assisted by coaches Massimo Paganins and Aleksandrs Cauņa, goalkeeping coach Andris Vanin, physical training coaches Vincenzo Pincolini and Māris Smirnovs, as well as video analysts Leonardo Carletti and Ilya Shčanitsins.
List of candidates for the Latvian national team:
goalkeepers – Rihards Matrevics (“Riga”), Frank Dāvids Orols (“Daugavpils”), Krišjānis Zviedris (“Auda”);
defenders – Kaspars Dubra (“Panevezys”, Lithuania), Roberts Savalnieks, Daniels Balodis (both – RFS), Andrejs Ciganiks (“Luzern”, Switzerland), Raivis Andris Jurkovskis, Antonijs Chernomordys (both – “Riga”), Alvis Jaunzems ( Melecs “Stal”, Poland), Kristers Tobers (Zurich “Grasshoppers”, Switzerland), Maksims Toniševs, Emils Birka (both – “Valmiera”), Vitaly Jagodinskis (Phnom Penh “Visakha”, Cambodia);
midfielders – Aleksej Saveljevs, Denis Melniks (both – “Auda”), Dmitrijs Zelenkovs, Jānis Ikaunieks (both – RFS), Renārs Varslavāns, Lukas Vapne (both – “Valmiera”), Eduards Daškėvičs (“Riga”);
forwards – Roberts Uldrikis (Athens “Kallithea”, Greece), Vladislavs Gutkovskis (Daejeon “Citizen”, South Korea), Dario Shits (“Helmond”, Netherlands).
List of candidates for the Faroe Islands national team:
goalkeepers – Teiturer Gestson (Tourschavna HB), Barbour Reinatred (Nordraget Vikingur), Matthias Lamhauge (Fredericia, Denmark);
defenders – Joanness Danielsen, Odmar Fore (both – Klakswick KI), Wiljormour Davidsen, Samuel Chukwudi (both – Tourschhavna HB), Herdur Asham (Roskilde, Denmark), Andrias Edmundsson (Nan Pllockjah), W Polis Voaras (07 Vestur), Gunnar Vatnhamar (Reykjavik Vikingur, Iceland), Daniel Johansen (Hillerod, Denmark), Arnbjörn Svensson (Nordraget Vikingur);
midfielders – Hanus Serensen (Tourshavna HB), Renée Jensen (Klaksvik KI), Brandur Hendriksson (Fredrikstad, Norway), Selvi Vatnhamar (Nordraget Vikingur), Hannes Agnarson (Tourshavna B36);
forwards – Petrus Knudsen, Klémint Olsen (both – Eisturoja NSI), Meinhard Olsen (“Mjondalen”, Norway), Ioans Sīmuns Edmundson (Skopje “Shkupi”, North Macedonia), Pētur Petersen (Nordrageta “Vikingur”), Adrian Justinussen (“Hillerod “, Denmark), Joannes Bjartalid (“Fredrikstad, Norway).