Estonia lose out to Latvia in Baltic Cup semi-final
The Estonian women's national team lost 0-1 to Latvia in the semi-finals of the Baltic Cup on Friday in a tie settled by a first half penalty.
Estonia, who began as favorites to defend their Baltic crown, started strongly, creating several good chances to open the scoring early on.
However, it was Latvia who grabbed the decisive goal on 17 minutes thanks to a spot kick from Karlīna Miksone, who plays her club football for Polish side Czarni Sosnowiec.
According to head coach Aleksandra Ševoldajeva, Estonia struggled with their opponents' high press.
"Latvia had a clear and effective game plan, which their key players executed well. We had to quickly find solutions to relieve the pressure. We did manage to get into dangerous positions several times, but accuracy with the final ball was lacking," said Ševoldajeva.
At the same time, Ševoldajeva highlighted the positive contribution of the Estonian substitutes, who she said brought energy and bravery in attack.
"We wanted to use the substitutions to attack our opponents more behind the back line, and everyone adapted well. We increased the pressure and the game became more active, but on this occasion we failed to score," she added.
Estonia will play in third-fourth place play-off on Monday, October 27, against the losers of the Faeroe Islands v Lithuania semi-final.
The winners of that game will take on Latvia in the final on Monday afternoon.
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Editor: Michael Cole, Siim Boikov
