Estonian women's national team begin Baltic Cup defense on Friday afternoon
The Estonian women's national football team will begin their defense of the Baltic Cup on Friday. Estonia face Latvia in the semifinals, while Lithuania take on the Faeroe Islands.
Ahead of the Baltic Cup, head coach Aleksandra Ševoldajeva said she would have liked to have had more time to train with the squad, who have not met up together since the summer.
While going into this year's tournament as defending champions, adds more pressure to the Estonian players, Ševoldajeva is confident they can use it to their advantage.
"Pressure is a privilege. It means you have done something well and right – it's huge praise for the work that has been done in previous years," Ševoldajeva said before the meeting.
"Estonia is not used to being the favorite at the international level, it's unfamiliar, but it's also pretty cool. We'll take the positive things from that and try to use them in the game."
Estonia's opening match of the 2025 Baltic Cup kicks of at 1 p.m. on Friday against Latvia. The two sides drew 1-1 in their last meeting – a friendly match in spring. Estonia are hoping for a better result this time around.
"If we want the desired result, we have to take our chances. We actually had a lot of chances in the previous game. And we have to keep a clean sheet," said Estonian national team defender Siret Räämet, who plays club football for LASK in the German top division.
Estonia v Latvia in the women's Baltic Cup can be watched live on football portal Soccernet from 1 p.m. here.
The winners of the two semi-finals will face each other in the final, with the losers battling it out for third spot.
The final is set for Monday, October 27 at 1 p.m., with the third-place play-off due to kick-off the same day at 6 p.m.
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Editor: Michael Cole, Anders Nõmm
