Latvian Footballers Retain Their Place in the Third Division of the UEFA Nations League 0 11

In the second of two playoff matches, the Latvian footballers defeated Gibraltar at home with a score of 1:0 (0:0) and won 2:0 on aggregate over the two matches.

In the second match, the winning goal for Latvia was scored by Antoniy Chernomordyy in stoppage time.

In the sixth minute, Dmitry Zelenkov received a yellow card for the Latvian national team.

In the middle of the first half, the Latvians executed a free kick, and Andrey Tsyganik crossed into the penalty area, but the Gibraltar players quickly cleared the ball out of their box. Soon, Latvia earned another corner, but Robert Veips failed to direct the ball into the opponent's goal.

Closer to the end of the first half, Tijey de Bars received a warning for a foul against Zelenkov.

At the beginning of stoppage time in the first half, Latvia earned another corner taken by Robert Savalnieks. After the cross, Robert Uldrikis directed the ball towards the goal, and Veips was the last to touch the ball before it crossed the goal line. However, after reviewing the video, the referee ruled that Uldrikis had handled the ball, and the goal was disallowed.

After 20 minutes into the second half, the Latvians managed a combination in the opponent's penalty area, and substitute Vladislav Gutkovskiy shot from close range, but the ball went wide of the goal. Soon, Renars Varslavans had another chance on a counterattack, but his shot was too strong — the ball flew over the goal.

Just over five minutes before the end of regular time, the guests took a shot in Latvia's penalty area, but it was inaccurate — the ball flew over the goal.

At the end of regular time, the Latvians executed two counterattacks, and Gibraltar's goalkeeper had to come far out of his goal twice to save his team, successfully clearing the ball out of play both times.

In stoppage time, after a pass from Savalnieks from close range in the opponent's penalty area, Chernomordyy secured victory for Latvia.

In the first match, which took place on Friday away, Latvia won 1:0.

In the upcoming group stage of the Nations League in Division C, the Latvian national team will face Montenegro, Armenia, and Cyprus.

In the FIFA rankings, the Latvian national team is in 139th place, while Gibraltar is in 202nd place.

The head coach of the Latvian national team, Paolo Nicolato, called up 27 players for the training camp in March. After a two-year break, midfielder Eduards Emsis returned to the list of candidates, and after a one-year absence, forward Robert Uldrikis returned to the squad after recovering from a long injury.

In the matches against Gibraltar, the team captain Kristers Tobers was unavailable due to health reasons, and for the same reason, forward Raimonds Krollis did not participate in the camp. After the injury of Bruno Melnis, Danila Patiychuk was called up to the national team, who had not previously played for the national team.

Also in the squad was Premier League defender Dennis Cirkin, but he was unable to take the field.