Viktors Dobrecovs managed Latvian U-19 men’s football team will play against Italy today in Crotone, marking the opening match of the elite round in the European U-19 Championship qualifying tournament.
The match will take place at Stadio Ezio Scida, which has a capacity of over 16,000 spectators. Currently, Crotone FC, a team in the Italian Serie C, hosts their games there. The match will begin at 6 PM Latvian time.
Italian U19 National Team manager Alberto Bollini has selected ten players who have experience in Serie A. Notable players include 17-year-old AC Milan wonderkid Francesco Camarda, 18-year-old Genoa striker Jeff Ekhator, who has made 20 appearances in Serie A this season, scoring one goal, and talented center-back Giovanni Leoni from Parma Calcio, who has recently become a starter for the Serie A side, making ten appearances this season.
Following this game, the Latvian team will play two additional matches in Cosenza as part of their challenging group: one against France on Saturday and another against Spain on Tuesday.
Viktors Dobrecovs, the team’s coach, commented in an interview with Sportacentrs, “After two flights and a bus ride on Monday evening, we were a little tired. We had planned a team meeting for Monday night, but we decided to cancel it so that the players could rest after the journey. Meanwhile, the coaching staff used that time to focus on our preparation.” He also noted that overall, the team is in high spirits, as the players were eagerly anticipating this tournament.
Dobrecovs has selected players from five domestic clubs and six foreign clubs, including teams from Italy, Ireland, England, Croatia, Poland, and Ukraine. He mentioned, “Right now, we have approximately 95% of our strongest squad available; only a few players are dealing with injuries.” A notable absence is Kristiāns Mežsargs, who moved from Italian side Frosinone to Serie A side Como 1907 for a six-figure fee in the winter transfer window.
To advance to the elite round, only seven group winners from this stage will qualify, joining hosts Romania for the final tournament in June. The Latvian U-19 national team has successfully reached the elite round in three consecutive qualifying cycles.
In the first qualifying round held in Luxembourg in October 2024, the Latvian team finished third in their group but performed the best among all third-place finishers, enabling them to qualify as the last team advancing to the elite round.
Dobrecovs is assisted by coaches Antons Jemeļins, Dmitrijs Bogdanovs, and Vladislavs Pavļučenko, as well as goalkeeping coach Viktors Spole and fitness coach Kristaps Petrutis.
Live stream for the game will be available https://www.vivoazzurrotv.it/en
Latvia U19 NT squad for the Elite Round:
Goalkeepers
Kristers Gabriels Bite – FK Metta (2006)
Henrijs Auseklis – Cagliari Calcio (ITA) (2006)
Defenders
Aleksandrs Molotkovs – FK Metta (2007)
Markuss Strods – Bohemian (IRE) (2006)
Lenards Bērziņš – FK Metta (2007)
Valters Purs – FS Jelgava (2006)
Kristofers Baumanis – Sondrio Calcio (ITA) (2006)
Timurs Azarovs – AC Monza (ITA) (2006)
Midfielders
Ņikita Barkovskis – BFC Daugavpils (2006)
Tomass Mickevičs – FK Grobiņa (2006)
Krišjānis Rupeiks – FK Grobiņa (2007)
Marats Galajevs – Watford FC (ENG) (2007)
Markuss Ivulāns – FK Metta (2006)
Matīss Siliņš – Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) (2007)
Rūdolfs Kļavinskis – FK Metta (2007)
Viktors Ohvovoriole – Korona Kielce (POL) (2006)
Hugo Jesse – FK Metta (2006)
Helvijs Joksts – FK Tukums 2000 (2007)
Forwards
Roberts Kukulis – Inter Milan (ITA) (2007)
Daniels Radzenieks – FC Polissya (UKR) (2006)
Source: https://sportacentrs.com/futbols/latvijas_izlase/18032025-naves_grupu_gaidot_butu_stulbi_tagad_ieka
