Levadia lose out in Livonia Cup

By Margus Luik

Estonian champions FC Levadia Tallinn made a losing start to 2005 as they were defeated 4-3 by their Latvian counterparts Skonto FC in the annual Livonia Cup in Riga.

Historic region
This was the third edition of the tournament, set up on the initiative of the Estonian Football Association. The national champions of both countries meet indoors in the Latvian capital, the name Livonia commemorating the historic region that comprised both Estonian and Latvian land and flourished in the 14th to 16th centuries under the order of Livonia.

Second-half lead
Skonto had won the competition in 2003 and 2004, each time defeating FC Flora on penalties, and this time went ahead on 25 minutes through Kristaps Blanks. However, Lithuanian trialist Martynas Karalius equalised ten minutes later and 18-year-old newcomer Andrei Šadrin gave Levadia the lead 22 minutes into the second half.

'Lacked match fitness'
That advantage was short-lived, though, as goals from Aleksejs Višnakovs, Gatis Kalninš and Orestas Buitkus in a ten-minute period turned the game in Skonto's favour, meaning Dmitri Kruglov's 86th-minute strike was merely a consolation. Levadia coach Tarmo Rüütli admitted: "We clearly lacked match fitness and I also decided to use all 17 of our players so this performance was not a true reflection of us."

Commonwealth Cup
His side will next take part in the annual Commonwealth Cup for the champions of the former Soviet republics in Moscow, with Belarussian title-holders FC Dinamo Minsk, FC Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan and Russia's Under-19 team drawn in the same group. Rüütli will try out Slovakian forward Milan Gloncak and has already opted to sign 24-year-old Karalius, a former Lithuanian Under-21 international, from FBK Kaunus on a two-season deal after he impressed against Skonto.

Torpedo trial
Elsewhere, FC Torpedo Moskva may make more Estonian signings following the success of defender Andrei Stepanov and striker Andres Oper. Flora's international centre-back Enar Jääger and Under-21 striker Vitali Gussev of JK Merkuur Tartu are to train with the Russian club at their pre-season camp in Turkey.