Latvia delivered the first surprise in Group D of the Men's European Championship, after defeating host Romania with 3:1 (26:24, 18:25, 25:21, 26:24) in Cluj-Napoca.
The success is even more impressive given the world ranking. Latvia is in 51st place, while Romania is No. 35 in the world.
The match in BT Arena lasted 136 minutes and was extremely competitive. Only one point separated the two teams in the overall score – 95:94 for Latvia. The first and fourth sets were decided after play beyond 25 points, and in both cases, the Latvians snatched the victory with 26:24.
Romania had a slight advantage in attack – 51:48 points, but Latvia compensated in blocks – 13:10, as well as from serves – 6:4 aces.
The top scorer in the match was the Romanian Alexandru Rata with 21 points, and Cristian-Daniel Chitic added 17. For Latvia, Kristaps Smits scored the most – 14 points, followed by Janis Eduards Medenis with 12 and Gustavs Freimanis with 10.
The Latvians achieved success despite the troubles upon their arrival in Romania. The team's luggage did not arrive on time after the transfer in Warsaw, which disrupted the team's initial schedule. Subsequently, the equipment was received, and Latvia held a training session in the hall in Cluj-Napoca.
The Latvians are led by the well-known Ugis Krastins. The specialist coached the Ukrainian national team from 2017 to 2023 and led them to the quarterfinals of EuroVolley 2019 and the 2022 World Championship. At the club level, Krastins has been associated for many years with the Ukrainian Barkom Kazhany (Lviv), with whom he also worked after the team's inclusion in the Polish PlusLiga.
In fact, Latvia's success is not the first against this opponent this season. On June 5 in Riga, in Krastins' official debut as head coach of the national team, the Latvians defeated Romania even more decisively – 3:0 (25:22, 25:21, 25:22) in the European League.
Thus, Latvia started its third participation in a European Championship in an excellent way, with a victory over the group's host and an opponent who is 16 positions higher in the world ranking.