Estonia at full strength

Arno Pijpers, the Estonia coach, has been able to select virtually a full-strength squad for the EURO 2004™ qualifying matches against Andorra on 7 June and Croatia on 11 June in Tallinn.

Fit and available
The Dutch coach is delighted to have all his best players fit and available with the exception of striker Indrek Zelinski, who is suspended for the Andorra fixture, and Sergei Hohlov-Simson, the FC Levadia Maardu captain, who is recovering from a knee injury. Never before has Pijpers announced his national squad this far in advance of a fixture, but the timing reflects the buoyant mood of the team.

Youngsters called up
The Dutchmen has called up 22 players, three of whom - the youngsters Ott Reinumäe, Enar Jääger and Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko - will only be in the squad for the Andorra match. For the visit of Croatia the trio will drop down to the Under-21 side. The only dampener is the suspension of Zelinski, who scored twice against Andorra in April's qualifying match but also picked up his second yellow card of the campaign.

Welcome change
Estonia have had serious injury problems in their previous EURO 2004™ qualifying games this year, when they drew 0-0 with Bulgaria and beat Andorra 2-0, when Hohlov-Simson, Raio Piiroja, Andrei Stepanov, Martin Reim, Erko Saviauk, Meelis Rooba and Andres Oper all missed one or both matches. The results left Estonia fourth in Group 8 with five points from four games. They are five points behind leaders Bulgaria but only two and one point behind Croatia and Belgium respectively.

In fine fettle
Nine of the 22 players are playing their club football abroad and most of them have been in excellent form recently. The talented centre-back Piiroja announced his comeback from injury with a goal in the Norwegian Tippeligaen for Vålerenga IF and his team-mate Kristen Viikmäe also scored in a Norwegian Cup game. Zelinski scored Landskrona BoIS' consolation goal in the recent 2-1 defeat against AIK Solna in the Swedish first division while Sergei Terehhov was on target in the Finnish first division opening round for FC Haka a week ago.

Landmark caps
The fixtures should also provide several players with landmark caps. Reim, the team captain, should make his 120th appearance, Poom his 90th, Oper and Lemsalu their 80th, Terehhov his 60th, Urmas Rooba his 50th and Teet Allas his 40th. And should Marko Kristal play in both matches, he will reach the giddy heights of 129 international caps the same number as two great goalkeepers, Jorge Campos of Mexico and Denmark's Peter Schmeichel, and only trailing Lothar Matthäus and Thomas Ravelli among European players.

Estonia squad
Poom, Kaalma, Pareiko, Rooba, Stepanov, Allas, Lemsalu, Saviauk, Piiroja, Jääger*, Reim, Kristal, Leetma, Rooba, Zahovaiko*, Reinumäe*, Lindpere, Zelinski, Oper, Terehhov, Viikmäe, Haavistu. *Only selected for the Andorra fixture.