Estonia Finally in the Role of Goliath in Tonight's Andorra Match
The Estonian football team is to fill the unusual role of favorite in Tuesday evening's World Cup qualifier against Andorra.
The Tallinn match kicks off at 19:00 local time (17:00 UTC). Readers will be able to watch action live via the ETV2 feed below.
The two sides have a rich history, with Estonia being the first ever official opponent of Andorra in 1996, reported sport.err.ee.
Estonia won that game 1-6, its biggest victory since the 1930s. All of the subsequent nine games between the sides have seen Estonia walking away with a win.
The Blueshirts owe a lot to their Andorran brethren. Were it not for the tiny mountain-state, the Estonian national team would have scored 24 goals fewer in their history, a vast figure for an footballing dwarf like Estonia. Indrek Zelinski alone has scored six times against Andorra, with Andres Oper, who starts on the bench today, having hit them for five over the years.
Estonia won the reverse fixture of the current qualifying campaign 0-1 in October, a game attended by 216 locals. Far more are expected for match in Tallinn today (tickets still available), despite the sub-zero temperatures.
Neither side has a realistic chance in qualifying to the World Cup, a fact that has not escaped Estonia's head coach, Tarmo Rüütli, who has named six changes to the strong line-up that faced Holland last Friday.
The following eleven will start against Andorra:
Goal
1 Sergei Pareiko (31.01.1977) – Wisła Kraków (POL) 43/0
Defense
23 Taijo Teniste (31.01.1988) – Sogndal Fotball (NOR) 18/0
15 Ragnar Klavan (03.10.1985) – FC Augsburg (GER) 84/2
4 Raio Piiroja (11.07.1979) – Chengdu Blades FC (CHN) 109/8
17 Enar Jääger (18.11.1984) – clubless 91/0
Midfield
9 Tarmo Kink (06.10.1985) – Györi ETO FC (HUN) 70/5
16 Sergei Mošnikov (07.01.1988) – Górnik Zabrze (POL) 13/0
14 Konstantin Vassiljev (16.08.1984) – FK Amkar Perm (RUS) 59/15
18 Ats Purje (03.08.1985) – Kuopion Palloseura (FIN) 42/4
Attack
21 Jarmo Ahjupera (13.04.1984) – Györi ETO FC (HUN) 19/1
10 Henri Anier (17.12.1990) – Viking F.F. (NOR) 5/1