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.

Latvia Under-21

Nickname(s)	Sarkanbaltsarkanie (The red-white-reds)
Association	Latvian Football Federation
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Aleksandrs Basovs
Captain	Daniels Balodis
Most caps	Endijs Šlampe, Reinis Flaksis (31)
Top scorer	Edgars Gauračs (10)
First colours Second colours
First international
Latvia 0 - 0 Lithuania (Vilnius, Lithuania; 28 October 1992)
Biggest win
Latvia 4 - 0 Estonia (Carnikava, Latvia; 28 April 1994) Latvia 4 - 0 Andorra (Riga, Latvia; 6 June 2009) Latvia 5 - 1 Romania (Riga, Latvia; 9 October 2009) Turkmenistan 0 - 4 Latvia (Saint Petersburg, Russia; 26 January 2013) Latvia 4 - 0 Liechtenstein (Jūrmala, Latvia; 11 June 2013)
Biggest defeat
Latvia 0 - 6 Greece (Athens, Greece; 9 June 1999) Latvia 0 - 6 Slovakia (Jelgava, Latvia; 11 October 2011) Latvia 1 - 7 Switzerland (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 Poland taking place on 17 November 2020.

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	7	0	Riga
	GK	Vjačeslavs Kudrjavcevs	30 March 1998	4	0	Stomil Olsztyn
	GK	Rūdolfs Oskars Soloha	16 March 2000	0	0	Valmiera
	DF	Daniels Balodis (captain)	10 June 1998	13	2	Valmiera
	DF	Vladislavs Soloveičiks	25 May 1999	12	0	Jelgava
	DF	Ivo Minkevičs	28 June 1999	12	0	Jelgava
	DF	Emīls Birka	25 April 2000	10	0	Metta
	DF	Roberts Veips	22 February 2000	7	0	Sampdoria
	DF	Dmitrijs Litvinskis	17 August 1999	5	0	Ventspils
	DF	Dāvis Cucurs	19 March 2000	4	0	Daugavpils
	DF	Dāvis Dāvids Sprūds	28 December 1998	4	0	Victoria Rosport
	DF	Roberts Ķipsts	21 October 1999	1	0	Metta
	MF	Jānis Grīnbergs	28 February 1999	17	0	Jelgava
	MF	Dmitrijs Zelenkovs	15 May 2000	14	2	Empoli
	MF	Kristaps Liepa	14 March 1998	14	1	Valmiera
	MF	Maksims Toņiševs	12 May 2000	10	0	Daugavpils
	MF	Kristers Čudars	3 September 1999	6	0	Liepāja
	MF	Rihards Ozoliņš	31 May 2001	4	0	Metta
	MF	Eduards Daškevičs	12 July 2002	3	0	Anderlecht
	MF	Kristers Lūsiņš	9 May 2000	2	1	Valmiera
	MF	Renārs Varslavāns	23 August 2001	1	0	RFS
	FW	Marko Regža	20 January 1999	14	5	Daugavpils
	FW	Kaspars Kokins	26 April 2000	11	1	Ventspils
	MF	Daniils Skopenko	23 March 2000	2	0	Valmiera

In addition to that, other players were capped or are under consideration of the team management to be capped during the past 12 months.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Rihards Matrevics	18 March 1999	4	0	Hendon Town
	DF	Roberts Krists Jaunarājs-Janvāris	5 January 2000	0	0	Tukums
	MF	Aleksejs Saveljevs	30 January 1999	17	0	Mantova
	MF	Alvis Jaunzems	16 June 1999	10	0	Valmiera Glass
	MF	Daņiils Hvoiņickis	8 April 1998	9	0	Jelgava
	MF	Raivis Ķiršs	15 January 2000	2	0	Daugavpils
	MF	Raivis Skrebels	26 September 1999	2	0	Spartaks Jūrmala
	MF	Matīss Zēģele	24 September 2000	0	0	Metta
	FW	Aivars Emsis	1 April 1998	5	0	Bischofswerdaer FV 08

Staff

Head Coach	Aleksandrs Basovs
Assistant Coach	Anatolijs Čebans
Assistant Coach	Sergejs Golubevs
Goalkeeping Coach	Aleksandrs Proskurņins
Fitness Coach	Andrés Carrillo Fernández
General manager	Ilvars Grīslis
Doctor	Boriss Novikovs
Physiotherapist	Dmitrijs Jefremenkovs

Recent results

Recent and forthcoming matches

Date	Tournament	Location	Opponent	Result	Latvia scorers
6 September 2019	2021 EC qualification	Jelgava	Poland	0:1
10 September 2019	2021 EC qualification	Novi Sad	Serbia	1:1	Marko Regža
11 October 2019	2021 EC qualification	Pärnu	Estonia	1:2	Marko Regža
15 October 2019	2021 EC qualification	Rīga	Bulgaria	0:0
15 November 2019	2021 EC qualification	Rostov	Russia	0:2
4 September 2020	2021 EC qualification	Jelgava	Serbia	2:2	Kristaps Liepa, Marko Regža
8 September 2020	2021 EC qualification	Jelgava	Estonia	1:1	Marko Regža
9 October 2020	2021 EC qualification	Sofia	Bulgaria	0:1
13 October 2020	2021 EC qualification	Rīga	Russia	1:4	Kristers Lūsiņš
17 November 2020	2021 EC qualification	Łódź	Poland	1:3	Marko Regža

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
	Marko Regža	2018-	14	5
6.	Artjoms Rudņevs	2009–2009	10	4
	Dmitrijs Klimaševičs	2014–2016	30	4

See also

• Latvia football team
• Latvia U-19
• Latvia U-17

References

1. http://www.rsssf.com/tableso/ol1996q.html#Europe

External links

• www.lff.lv