Latvia national under-21 football team
The Latvia national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Latvia and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body of football in Latvia. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. The team is coached by Aleksandrs Basovs and is currently captained by defender Daniels Balodis.
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| Nickname(s) | Sarkanbaltsarkanie (The red-white-reds) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Latvian Football Federation | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach |  | ||
| Captain | Daniels Balodis | ||
| Most caps | Endijs Šlampe, Reinis Flaksis (31) | ||
| Top scorer | Edgars Gauračs (10) | ||
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| First international | |||
.svg.png){kind=small} (Vilnius, Lithuania; 28 October 1992) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 (Carnikava, Latvia; 28 April 1994)  (Riga, Latvia; 6 June 2009)  (Riga, Latvia; 9 October 2009)  (Saint Petersburg, Russia; 26 January 2013)  (Jūrmala, Latvia; 11 June 2013) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 (Athens, Greece; 9 June 1999)  (Jelgava, Latvia; 11 October 2011)  (Lugano, Switzerland; 8 September 2014) | |||
Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, under-21 football teams in Europe were formed, while Latvian team was formed only in 1991, after regaining independence from USSR. The team is exclusively for football players that are aged 21 or under at the start of the two-year campaign of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship meaning a player can represent the national team until the age of 23. Many U-21 players later represent the senior side.
Latvia U-21 have never yet qualified for the European U-21 championships, but has produced many players, who have become regular internationals for the senior side. Oskars Kļava, Deniss Ivanovs, Edgars Gauračs and Artjoms Rudņevs have all played for the U-21 side and are now first eleven players for Latvia internationally.
Latvia U-21 team plays its home matches at the Skonto stadions, which is also the home stadium of Latvia senior side. Before the opening of the Skonto stadions the team played its home matches in many different venues all around the country, including Ozolnieki, Daugavpils and Liepāja.
History
As a team, Latvia U-21 was formed in 1992, after regaining independence from the USSR. The team played its first match in Vilnius, Lithuania on October 28, 1992 that ended in a 0-0 draw. The team firstly participated in the European Championship qualification in 1994, playing the first match in Riga against Ireland U-21 on September 6, that ended in a 1-1 draw.[1] Since 2001 the team also participates in the Baltic Cup, winning in 2008. Since 1992 Latvia have already played more than 100 matches.
Current players
The following squad has been called up for the 2021 EC qualification match against Russia taking place on 15 November 2019.
Players in bold have represented Latvia on senior level. Data as per LFF.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Nils Toms Puriņš | 1 August 1998 | 6 | 0 | | |
| GK | Rihards Matrevics | 18 March 1999 | 4 | 0 |  | |
| DF | Vladislavs Soloveičiks | 25 May 1999 | 10 | 0 |  | |
| DF | Daniels Balodis (captain) | 10 June 1998 | 9 | 2 | | |
| DF | Ivo Minkevičs | 28 June 1999 | 8 | 0 | | |
| DF | Roberts Veips | 22 February 2000 | 6 | 0 |  | |
| DF | Emīls Birka | 25 April 2000 | 5 | 0 | | |
| DF | Dāvis Dāvids Sprūds | 28 December 1998 | 2 | 0 |  | |
| DF | Deivids Titovs | 5 January 2000 | 2 | 0 | | |
| DF | Dmitrijs Litvinskis | 17 August 1999 | 1 | 0 | | |
| MF | Aleksejs Saveljevs | 30 January 1999 | 13 | 0 | | |
| MF | Jānis Grīnbergs | 28 February 1999 | 12 | 0 |  | |
| MF | Alvis Jaunzems | 16 June 1999 | 10 | 0 | | |
| MF | Kristaps Liepa | 14 March 1998 | 10 | 0 | | |
| MF | Daņiils Hvoiņickis | 8 April 1998 | 9 | 0 | | |
| MF | Kristers Čudars | 3 September 1999 | 6 | 0 | | |
| MF | Maksims Toņiševs | 12 May 2000 | 6 | 0 | | |
| MF | Raivis Skrebels | 26 September 1999 | 2 | 0 | | |
| FW | Marks Kurtišs | 26 January 1998 | 13 | 0 | | |
| FW | Marko Regža | 20 January 1999 | 9 | 2 | | |
| FW | Dmitrijs Zeļenkovs | 15 May 2000 | 9 | 2 | | |
| FW | Kaspars Kokins | 26 April 2000 | 6 | 1 | | |
| FW | Aivars Emsis | 1 April 1998 | 5 | 0 | | |
In addition to that, other players were capped or are under consideration of the team management to be capped during the year 2019.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Vjačeslavs Kudrjavcevs | 30 March 1998 | 0 | 0 |  | |
| GK | Rūdolfs Soloha | 16 March 2000 | 0 | 0 | | |
| DF | Roberts Krists Jaunarājs-Janvāris | 23 March 2000 | 0 | 0 | | |
| DF | Artūrs Ļotčikovs | 26 January 2000 | 0 | 0 | | |
| DF | Matīss Zēģele | 24 September 2000 | 0 | 0 | | |
| DF | Dāvis Cucurs | 19 March 2000 | 3 | 0 | | |
| MF | Bogdans Samoilovs | 13 May 2000 | 3 | 0 | | |
| MF | Kristers Tobers | 13 December 2000 | 4 | 0 | | |
| MF | Andrejs Rogozins | 19 April 1998 | 1 | 0 | | |
| MF | Ņikita Jankovskis | 19 December 1998 | 1 | 0 | | |
| MF | Aleksejs Davidenkovs | 27 June 1998 | 1 | 0 | | |
| FW | Viktors Ziemelis | 27 January 2000 | 2 | 0 | | |
| FW | Rolands Vagančuks | 5 January 1998 | 1 | 0 | | |
| FW | Roberts Uldriķis | 3 April 1998 | 8 | 3 | | |
Staff
| Head Coach | |
| Assistant Coach | |
| Assistant Coach | |
| Goalkeeping Coach | |
| Fitness Coach |  |
| General manager | |
| Doctor | |
| Physiotherapist | |
Recent results
Recent and forthcoming matches
| Date | Tournament | Location | Opponent | Result | Latvia scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 March 2018 | Friendly match |  |
|
1:1 | Rendijs Šibass |
| 1 June 2018 | 2018 Under-21 Baltic Cup | |
|
2:0 | Vladislavs Fjodorovs, Rendijs Šibass |
| 4 June 2018 | 2018 Under-21 Baltic Cup |  |
|
0:1 | |
| 7 September 2018 | 2019 EC qualification | |
|
2:3 | Vladislavs Fjodorovs, Mārtiņš Ķigurs |
| 11 September 2018 | 2019 EC qualification | |
|
1:2 | Raivis Andris Jurkovskis |
| 12 October 2018 | 2019 EC qualification | |
 |
0:3 | |
| 16 October 2018 | 2019 EC qualification | |
|
0:0 | |
| 22 March 2019 | Antalya Cup 2019 |  |
 |
1:1 | Daniels Balodis |
| 24 March 2019 | Antalya Cup 2019 | |
 |
1:0 | Kaspars Kokins |
| 26 March 2019 | Antalya Cup 2019 | |
|
1:1 | Daniels Balodis |
| 9 June 2019 | Friendly match | |
|
2:0 | Dmitrijs Zeļenkovs 2x |
| 6 September 2019 | 2021 EC qualification | |
|
0:1 | |
| 10 September 2019 | 2021 EC qualification |  |
|
1:1 | Marko Regža |
| 11 October 2019 | 2021 EC qualification | |
|
1:2 | Marko Regža |
| 15 October 2019 | 2021 EC qualification | |
 |
0:0 | |
| 15 November 2019 | 2021 EC qualification |  |
|
0:2 | |
| 27 March 2020 | 2021 EC qualification | |
|
Most capped players
Only official matches against U-21 national teams, not including against clubs or any other matches.
| # | Name | Career | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Endijs Šlampe | 2014–2016 | 31 | 0 |
| Reinis Flaksis | 2013–2016 | 31 | 1 | |
| 3. | Dmitrijs Klimaševičs | 2014–2016 | 30 | 4 |
| 4. | Andrejs Kiriļins | 2014–2016 | 29 | 0 |
| Vladislavs Gutkovskis | 2014–2016 | 29 | 6 | |
| Antonijs Černomordijs | 20??–2018 | 29 | 1 | |
| 7. | Jevgēņijs Kazačoks | 20??–2016 | 27 | 5 |
| Eduards Tīdenbergs | 20??–2016 | 27 | 2 | |
| 9. | Edgars Vardanjans | 2011–2014 | 25 | 1 |
| Kaspars Svārups | 20??–2016 | 25 | 3 |
- Players in bold are still available to play for the U-21 National team.
Best goalscorers
| # | Name | Career | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Edgars Gauračs | 2009–2009 | 9 | 10 |
| 2. | Deniss Rakels | 2011–2013 | 13 | 6 |
| Vladislavs Gutkovskis | 2014–2016 | 29 | 6 | |
| 4. | Jevgēņijs Kazačoks | 2013–2016 | 27 | 5 |
| 5. | Artjoms Rudņevs | 2009–2009 | 10 | 4 |
| Dmitrijs Klimaševičs | 2014–2016 | 30 | 4 |
See also
External links
| National Teams | |||||
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| League System |
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| Domestic cups |
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