Flora stumble gives rivals hope

The Estonian Meistriliiga kicked off earlier than ever before on Saturday as the 2004 campaign began with champions FC Flora being held to a surprise goalless draw by JK Tulevik Viljandi. To make matters worse for Flora coach Arno Pijpers, who is also the Estonia coach, two of his players suffered serious injuries in the first half of a bruising encounter.

Allas hurt by Hurt
The first occurred after just 13 minutes when Tulevik's 19-year-old winger, Martin Hurt, collided with Flora right-back Teet Allas. The Estonian international is now expected to miss at least a month of action with torn ankle ligaments. Eight minutes later Flora goalkeeper Martin Kaalma suffered an injury to his left knee - on which he had surgery not so long ago - after rushing out to thwart an attack and faces a spell on the sidelines too.

Question mark
The biggest question mark looming over the champions this season is whether they possess the necessary firepower to win a fourth successive title. With Norwegian forward Tor Henning Hamre, scorer of 62 goals in two seasons, having been sold to Vålerenga IF Flora certainly look short of attacking finesse - an impression reinforced by Saturday's game where they dominated but failed to score against a side tipped by many for a relegation struggle.

Hope for the rest
The last time Flora failed to win their opening game of the season was back in 1997/98, and Saturday's result has certainly given hope to the clubs looking to depose them this season. The two clubs expected to push them hardest are last year's runners-up FC TVMK Tallinn and FC Levadia Tallinn.

New signings
In the close season, TVMK signed experienced former Lithuanian internationals Arunas Pukelevičius and Egidijus Juška as well as forward Tarmo Neemelo. Midfield player Indro Olumets is the latest arrival on a free transfer.

Defensive problems
They may have increased their attacking options but they could experience problems in defence, with Anton Mõkolenko having left the club and international defensive midfield player Liivo Leetma currently 'on strike' against the club.

Pre-season performances
Levadia, meanwhile, have strengthened by signing Vitoldas Cepauskas and Marius Dovydenas while Konstantin Nahk has returned from Finnish Veikkausliiga side FC Jokerit to strengthen midfield and set-piece play. Levadia's performances in pre-season friendlies in Latvia and Finland have been mixed, making it difficult to judge how they will fare.