Virslīga 2023 tales from the weekend (Matchday 1).
Virslīga started yesterday and I will also try something new with the season starting. After every Matchday I will write about my weekend watching Latvian football. My thoughts, my opinions only.
Virslīga is here! I said to myself as I woke up on Saturday morning. Well if not for one problem. The one time I only have to go to my real-life job on Saturday is on the Virslīga season opening day. Well, that’s a bummer. I will miss the previous two league champions’ game in Valmiera, but I can make it to the Hanzas Vidusskolas Stadium for the game between FK Metta and FK Liepāja. So I leave work at around 2 PM and head to the bus stop. To get to the stadium I have to use two different public transport. As I get out of the first one and wait for the next bus, I got a notification from the flashscore application on my phone. The game between Metta and Liepāja is postponed. And then I get messages from the group chat about the tweet from Latvian Virslīga where they announce that the game will be cancelled. I’m a little bit pissed, but I decide to head to the Hanzas Stadium to see what is going on there. As I get there I see the Liepāja bus leaving and their press person a little bit later leaving at around 15:00. The game is not happening. As I look at the stadium, FK Metta's first team has a training session on the same field where referees just said that the game cannot happen.
There is one other game happening not far from Hanzas Vidusskolas Stadium in two hours, but I decide not to go to it. I’m still a little bit pissed that Metta and Liepāja game is cancelled. Obviously, at the end of the day, I have to realise, it’s players’ safety first. But still, the opening day football festival is a bit spoiled, I don't want to watch anything, I'll go home and wait for tomorrow.
As I get back home I haven’t seen a single minute from the Valmiera FC and RFS game, I decided that I will check it out the next morning. Same with FK Auda and SK Super Nova game. So I head to sleep still a little bit disappointed and hoping that tomorrow the weather will be better.
Sunday morning, I open the blinds. Can’t believe it, it’s sunny in Rīga. No clouds at all. As soon as I saw that, an Ice Cube song ‘‘It was a good day’’ popped up in my mind. I even thought of new lyrics for the song. Cringy? YES!
Just waking up in the mornin’ gotta thank God
I don't know but the weather seems kinda nice
No clouds in the sky, no storm
And we can play football with no prob.
I decided that the first football game that I’m gonna watch from the stands will be Riga FC vs FS Jelgava. I want to see how both teams look. But first I start with watching Valmiera FC vs RFS game from yesterday. 15 minutes in, I’m not impressed with Valmiera's new Venezuelan goalkeeper Olses. First of all, he moves very… we call it in Latvian ‘‘kokaini’’ direct translate is wooden. That means stiff. Also looked very unconvincing. But I could write it off as the first game for him in Latvia and likely the first time he is playing a game in that kind of weather. And to be honest that was everything I watched from yesterday’s games. Maybe Olses was better later in the game? But that’s just my opinion.
So 15-20 minutes from Valmiera and RFS game and did not watch anything from Auda/Super Nova game. As I will leave it for the next few days. I haven’t even seen yet the goals Auda scored yesterday. I want to see it with my own eyes from watching the full game, not in the highlights. Also got to say I don’t like to analyse games on television, I love to watch the game while I’m in the stands. Likely because all my focus is on the match when I’m at the game.
Before heading to the Mežaparks Sports Village I turn on the TV to watch the first game of the day - Tukums against Daugavpils. Did not see a lot from it, just 20-25 minutes of the game and got to say I liked how Daugavpils foreigners played in that time. Oh yeah and guess what, Sergejs Vilkovs of Tukums 2000/Telms is a pretty damn good goalkeeper as he had one great save against veteran midfielder Valērijs Afanasjevs. As I saw that episode I had to go to the stadium.
I get to the Riga FC Mežaparks Sports Village. The first thing I notice is this thing of beauty (not my photo, but Arkādijs Birjuks photo). The stadium has a food and drink bus. Mežpils bear - 5 euros, mulled wine - 4 euros, coffee and tea 2.50 euros. There are also some chips and some more things.
Before the game, I buy the coffee from the bus. Take my seat. To my shock FK Tukums 2000/Telms beat BFC Daugavpils at home, that was a surprise to me. And after that, I look at the lineups for this game. No real surprises to me. Maybe the only one is that Oskars Rubenis was not in the starting lineup for Tukums. But he might not be ready 100%, so that’s why he starts on the bench. Jelgava starting with 11 Latvian players. While looking at the lineups I notice that the Latvian NT manager Dainis Kazakevičs arrives. There is a good reason for it as there are a few NT members on the Riga FC squad and we are just a few days away from the NT games.
Well, the game starts. I’m more interested in how will Riga start, because I know how Jelgava will play for at least the first 10-15 minutes. Riga started great, they got their first chance to score in the 6th minute, when Douglas Aurelio shot from the penalty area was heading straight to the Virslīga debutant Raivo Stūriņš. Riga continued to control the game, but the first Jelgava attack almost ends up in a goal. Counter-attack and Jelgava player Ralfs Maslovs takes the shot from the left side of the field, but Nils Puriņš makes his first save. As the first half went on there were not a lot of chances for both teams, Riga controlled the ball, but they could not convert it into chances. If there were not a lot of chances, then there were a lot of emotions which I liked. I don’t know what happened halfway through the first half as Ervīns Pērkons received his first yellow card from the referee, but Riga players did not like what he did on the sidelines. Another thing that I liked - Jelgava players were talking on the field with each other only Latvian. But let’s now talk about players. Riga FC Milos Jojic is quality, the same can be said about Hrvoje Babec. Did not like how Mor Talla Gaye played in the first half, mistakes passing the ball, and kept the ball to himself too long for me. Forward Reginaldo Ramires was non existing in the first half also. Riga manager Tomislav Stipic was not happy with how centre-back Ngom played on the offensive side, he wanted him to play higher up the pitch when Riga had the ball. Stipic had to encourage him a few times. From Jelgava to me I liked how the young CB Vējkrīgers played (made his Virslīga debut) and forward Rihards Bečers (also his Virslīga debut). Heading into the half, the score was disappointing for Riga, but encouraging from Jelgava stand point 0:0.
At half-time, I was getting cold, so I decided to buy tea. Looked around, and there was a group of fans from Jelgava supporting the team. I could hear them very well from my seat. Riga FC also had a lot of people supporting them, could hear them well too. So there was support for both teams. As I got back to my seat, the 2nd half started. The first change of the game was made by Riga. To my surprise, Marko Regža was coming on the field as a lone striker replacing Ramires. I was sure that Marko Dabro will be the first forward coming on the field if Stipic wanted to try another forward. So it was a nice surprise. And in the 2nd half, Riga came out firing. They put on an offensive clinic as they generated chance after chance. And seven minutes into the second half, the first Riga FC player shot was saved by Raivo Stūriņš, but the rebound got straight to Hrvoje Babec as the 1.6 million Euro man opened his Virslīga 2023 goal count. 52nd minute Riga FC vs FS Jelgava - 1:0. And I thought to myself it is over. Riga will continue to dominate. And yes they did for the next few minutes, but then the key substitution was made by Ervīns Pērkons. He brought on the field Oskars Rubenis and Nigerian forward Victor Osuagwu who is on loan from Slavia Prague. And boy how good was he. As soon as he came on the field first he did was intercepted the pass as they got the ball back. Then a minute or two later he received the ball in the penalty area and out of nothing chance got a corner. What happened on that corner kick? The beauty of a goal happened. Oskars Rubenis from way outside the penalty box scores a stunner to stun Riga FC and the people in the stands. I did hear a lot of things in the stands. My reaction was ‘‘f*** sake’’. That goal was impressive. But the goal was a big part of the work Osuagwu did. So that’s a + in my notes. Riga went on an all-out attack. And now I was watching game MVP up close toying with defenders. Let me talk about Douglas Aurelio, I think he had like 8-9 shots and 4-5 of them were on target. I might exaggerate, but it felt like he did everything for Riga in the 2nd half. He was dancing with the ball, leaving defenders behind him. The only thing he could not do is beat the young Jelgava goalkeeper Raivo Stūriņš. A slight digression from the story, but I had my Polish follower who enjoys football named Jan in front of me, I think he did not recognise me, because I don’t like to be seen in football games as I’m there just to strictly watch it (people who know me, know who I am), but I did sit right behind him and after every Douglas Aurelio dribble, dangerous chance, he brought out his phone and did a Facebook story for his followers where he in the Polish language talked about the situations. I find it funny, that he had to take out his phone in the cold weather every three to five minutes, just because Douglas Aurelio did something ridiculous. Keep doing the great work Jan.
Now back to the game. Yes, Douglas Aurelio was great, but it did not convert into goals. We are in the late stages of the game. Will Jelgava hold on? Will they get their first Virslīga point already in Matchday 1 and against the title favourites Riga FC? The fourth official shows that there will be three additional minutes. The game is slipping away from Riga FC and then there is the last attack. I do not remember who crossed the ball into the box, but Marko Regža was first to get to the ball as he heads it Raivo Stūriņš saves it and again the rebound goes back to Regža who scores with his 2nd try. Joy for Riga, sorrow for Jelgava. Felt bad for Jelgava, but that’s football. I think Jelgava fans should be proud of the way they played, they have nothing to be ashamed of. The same can be said about Riga. They are getting a lot of criticism about the way they played. I liked how they played. Jelgava's goalkeeper was unbelievable in his Virslīga debut. Kudos to him and I think Riga will be alright as the season progress. MVP of the games for both teams. Riga FC - Douglas Aurelio and FS Jelgava - Raivo Stūriņš.
Virslīga Matchday 1 results:
Valmiera FC vs RFS - 0:0
FK Metta vs FK Liepāja - postponed
FK Auda vs SK Super Nova/Salaspils - 2:0
FK Tukums 2000/Telms vs BFC Daugavpils - 1:0
Riga FC vs FS Jelgava - 2:1
That’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed and liked the blog about Matchday 1.