Team Latvia ready for European Golden League matches in Daugavpils

On Friday, the men’s national team of Latvia will play North Macedonia in a European Golden League match in Daugavpils, and on Sunday they will  take on Greece. On Saturday, the two visiting teams will face each other. The Latvian team travelled to Daugavpils with a roster of 15 players, as Eduards Stieģelis will remain at home due to health reasons.

“Unfortunately, the tournament is over for Stieģelis. The remaining 15 players are participating in the training camp, along with outside hitter Toms Vanags, who will not play in the Golden League but joins training sessions occasionally, as we may need him later in the summer,” said Latvia's head coach Rainer Vassiļjev about the roster for the two matches in Daugavpils. “Right now, it also looks like Renārs Jansons will be able to play in Daugavpils, as he has been training with the team since yesterday and had no issues in the first two sessions.” 

In their first two matches, Latvia defeated Montenegro in Romania 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 15-10) and lost to Romania 0-3 (23-25, 20-25, 21-25). Latvia’s first opponent in Daugavpils, North Macedonia, lost in Bratislava to Finland 0-3 (20-25, 15-25, 19-25) and to Slovakia 0-3 (21-25, 22-25, 23-25). Meanwhile, Greece won both its home matches - against Spain 3-1 (25-20, 28-30, 25-18, 25-22) and Portugal 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23).

Greece is currently in fourth place with six points from two games, Latvia is in eighth with two points, and North Macedonia is last among the 12 teams with no points.

“We have more information about North Macedonia, as we are nearly done with our analysis, while we are still analysing Greece. I have not played against Greece for many years. North Macedonia has a very experienced squad - their starting players have been playing together for over ten years and know each other very well. North Macedonia has always been a tough opponent due to their team spirit and that distinct Balkan fighting mentality. Our task is to prevent them from getting into rhythm. I’d rate our chances in this match as 50:50. I believe we can compete with them evenly, but with Nikola Gjorgiev and Aleksandar Ljaftov as their attacking leaders, they are a seasoned team and know how to play. Our first objective is to stop these two guys,” the coach emphasised.

“I am very pleased that we managed to win the first match against Montenegro in Romania, especially since it was our first official game without any preparatory matches. We got into the rhythm well, met our goal, and seized the opportunity,” Vassiļjev said of the first tournament in Romania. “We have nothing to be ashamed of in the game against Romania either - we held our own against a strong team that will play in the World Championship. Romania played almost the entire match with the same lineup. We forced them to keep their starting six on the court the whole time, not allowing substitutions they would have preferred to make. I think that’s a compliment to us.” 

In the final round next weekend, Latvia will face Spain and Slovakia in Spain.

Head coach Vassiļjev is supported by assistant coaches Raimonds Liniņš and Tauno Lipp, coach/statistician Aivis Kokins, physical conditioning coach Raigo Kodress, physiotherapist Kristaps Blitsons, team doctor Lolita Kalniņa-Havraneka, and manager Jekaterīna Ņikitina.

Latvia last played in the European Golden League in 2022, losing all six matches and exiting the competition. In 2023, they won all eight matches in the European Silver League and claimed the title. They did not participate in the European League last year. In 2024, Ukraine, coached by Latvian Uģis Krastiņš, won the Golden League, with Croatia finishing second, Czechia third, and Estonia fourth.