Midwinter appointment for Levadia
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Article summary
Monthly review: With Estonian football in hibernation, the Livonia Cup is the next event on the horizon.
Article body
By Margus Luik
After an inexperienced national team lost both their matches at the King's Cup in Thailand, the next major event on the horizon for Estonian football fans is the 3rd Livonia Cup on 9 January.
Latvian opponents
The competition will pit Estonian champions FC Levadia Tallinn against their Latvian counterparts, Skonto FC, at their opponents' indoor arena in Riga. The match, instigated by the Estonian Football Association (EJL), marks a long relationship between the two countries, which were united under the Order of Livonia between the 14th and 16th centuries. Skonto have won both previous editions, twice beating FC Flora in a penalty shootout.
Retiring players
Levadia will take on Skonto without two of their most seasoned players, Argo Arbeiter and Mati Pari, both of whom have decided to retire rather than extend their contracts with the club. The two friends from Viljandi have spent much of their careers together and have now decided to retire in unison.
Estonian record
The 31-year-old Arbeiter and 30-year-old Pari were team-mates at JK Tulevik Viljandi, Flora, JK Tervis Pärnu and, since 2002, Levadia, although Arbeiter also spent three years in Finland with FC KooTeePee and FF Jaro. Pari won 22 caps for Estonia scoring once while Arbeiter earned 29, scoring six times and setting a national record with four goals in a 6-1 victory against Andorra in 1996.
Early start
Meanwhile, the EJL has announced that the 2005 season will start on 2 March with a game between JK Trans Narva and Levadia which has been brought forward from round 19. It is the earliest-ever start to a Meistriliiga campaign, which will include ten teams for the first time and finish on 6 November.
Sirel move
Meanwhile, the first major transfer of the close season has seen Tulevik sell central defender Jaanus Sirel to JK Tammeka Tartu for a nominal fee. With 145 Meistriliiga appearances, the 29-year-old has played more games for Tulevik than any other player, but is originally from Tartu. During his time at Tulevik he made one international appearance, albeit a goalscoring one, in a 5-1 defeat by Lithuania in 2003.
