The men's national football team of Latvia deserves to compete in the third strongest division - League C, in the next season of the UEFA Nations League, believes the head coach of the team, Paolo Nikolato, LETA reports.
The UEFA Nations League playoff matches against Gibraltar will take place on Thursday away and on Tuesday at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. The winner on aggregate over the two matches will play in League C in the fall, while the loser will compete in League D.
"Our goal is victory, as it probably is for all teams in the world. The atmosphere in the team is good, and the players are in good shape," Nikolato is quoted by the Latvian Football Federation.
As Nikolato explained, he does not feel pressure, but reminded that a higher ranking does not guarantee an easy victory.
"Everything will be decided not on paper, but on the field, where eleven play against eleven. We must show our best game, which we are ready for. I think we have improved a lot over the last two years. I believe we deserve to play in League C," Nikolato said.
In this gathering, Sunderland defender Dennis Cirkin also joined the team, but he will not participate in the matches against Gibraltar. Once Cirkin takes the field in an official match for the Latvian national team, he will no longer be able to represent another national team.
"About Cirkin, I can say that we are happy to have him. We are getting to know each other better, thinking about the future. His attitude in this situation is impeccable. We will decide on his position in the national team later. He will not play in these matches, so it is premature to talk about his position," Nikolato noted.
Latvian national team defender Antoniy Chernomordyy emphasized that it is very important to be ready to play from the first minutes.
"We have a good-bad example with Andorra, when in the first twenty minutes of the match we 'were not on the field'. Tomorrow we need to be in the game from the warm-up, ready to fight," Chernomordyy emphasized.
If the playoff matches are successful, the Latvian national team will face Montenegro, Armenia, and Cyprus in the group stage of League C.
The Latvian football team will play its first playoff match for a place in the third division of the UEFA Nations League
The men's national football team of Latvia will play away today its first of two playoff matches for a place in the third strongest division of the UEFA Nations League - League C, LETA reports.
The match will start at 19:00 Latvian time, and the broadcast will be provided by the LTV7 channel.
The return match will take place on March 31 at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. The winner on aggregate over the two matches will play in League C in the fall, while the loser will compete in League D.
If successful, the Latvian national team will meet Montenegro, Armenia, and Cyprus in the group stage of Division C. If unsuccessful, the team will end up in League D in a group with Andorra and the loser of the Malta - Luxembourg pair.
In the FIFA rankings, the Latvian national team is in 139th place, while Gibraltar is in 202nd place.
The teams have met each other four times, with Latvia winning three matches. In 2018, in a friendly match, the players of Gibraltar were stronger.
The head coach of the Latvian national team, Paolo Nikolato, called up 27 footballers for the March gathering. After a two-year break, midfielder Eduards Emšis returned to the list of candidates, and after a year’s absence, forward Roberts Uldriķis, who has recovered from a long injury, was also called up.
Due to health issues, team captain Kristers Tobers is unavailable this time, and for the same reason, forward Raimonds Krollis will also be unable to help the team. After an injury, Bruno Melnis was replaced by Danila Patiychuk, who has not previously played for the national team.
