Latvia men's national handball team

Latvia
Information
Association	Latvian Handball Federation (Latvijas Handbola federācija)
Coach	Davor Čutura
Assistant coach	Andrejs Narnickis Arnolds Straume Ēriks Visockis
Captain	Dainis Krištopāns
Most caps	Jānis Pavlovičs (101)
Most goals	Dainis Krištopāns (346)
Colours
1st 2nd
Results
European Championship
Appearances	1 (First in 2020 )
Best result	24th (2020)
Last updated on Unknown.

The Latvia national handball team is the national handball team of Latvia and is controlled by the Latvian Handball Federation. It has competed since 1993, playing its opening match in the 1994 European Championship qualifiers against Cyprus on 15 April 1993 in Nicosia, winning 32:28.

In 2019 the team qualified for the 2020 European Championships for the first time in their history, previously reaching the qualification play-off stage in 2005. The team has not yet qualified for neither the Olympic Games nor World Championships, with their best results so far being participation in the world qualifiers play-offs in 2004 and 2016. ^[1]

To this date Andris Gulbis has had the longest stint managing the team, working in 1998 and from 2005 to 2010. From 2017 til the end of Euro 2020 the team was managed by former player Armands Uščins. The current head coach is Sandris Veršakovs.

Competitive record

European Championship

European Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
1994	did not qualify
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
/ / 2020	Preliminary round	24	3	0	0	3	73	93
2022	did not qualify
2024
2026
2028	to be determined
Total	1/18	–	3	0	0	3	73	93

IHF Emerging Nations Championship

• 2015 – 1st place

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship. ^{[2] [3]}

Head coach: Armands Uščins

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club 5 CB Māris Veršakovs (1986-01-13) 13 January 1986 (age 39) 1.92 m 93 249 ZRHK Tenax Dobele 6 RW Uvis Stazdiņš (1999-10-05) 5 October 1999 (age 25) 1.80 m 16 22 HC Kehra 7 LB Aivis Jurdžs (1983-08-24) 24 August 1983 (age 41) 1.97 m 87 330 ZRHK Tenax Dobele 10 RB Dainis Krištopāns (1990-09-27) 27 September 1990 (age 34) 2.14 m 77 346 Vardar 12 GK Edgars Kukša (1990-01-26) 26 January 1990 (age 35) 1.91 m 80 0 OHV Aurich 14 LW Oskars Arājs (1990-08-04) 4 August 1990 (age 34) 1.88 m 42 44 ZRHK Tenax Dobele 16 GK Raitis Puriņš (1988-05-20) 20 May 1988 (age 36) 1.90 m 41 0 Celtnieks Rīga 17 LB Nils Kreicbergs (1996-05-23) 23 May 1996 (age 28) 1.92 m 48 93 Riihimäki Cocks 19 RW Andis Ērmanis (1990-05-21) 21 May 1990 (age 34) 1.68 m 54 19 ZRHK Tenax Dobele 27 P Ingars Dude (1987-01-01) 1 January 1987 (age 38) 1.95 m 73 152 Limoges Hand 87 33 RB Ģirts Lilienfelds (1982-12-04) 4 December 1982 (age 42) 1.89 m 84 215 HSC 2000 Coburg 35 P Egils Politers (1990-02-18) 18 February 1990 (age 35) 1.95 m 41 54 ZRHK Tenax Dobele 44 RB Evars Klešniks (1980-05-18) 18 May 1980 (age 44) 1.99 m 73 241 LiT Tribe Germania 71 LW Rihards Leja (1992-07-28) 28 July 1992 (age 32) 1.87 m 27 30 Celtnieks Rīga 76 CB Austris Tuminskis (1990-06-07) 7 June 1990 (age 34) 1.98 m 58 119 EHV Aue 77 RW Jānis Pavlovičs (1984-09-16) 16 September 1984 (age 40) 1.84 m 101 297 Sandefjord TIF

Notable players

• Aivis Jurdžs
• Evars Klešniks
• Dainis Krištopāns
• Ēriks Velde – a member of the 1964 World Men's Handball Championship All-Star Team ^[4]

References

1. "15 fakti, kas jāzina par Latvijas handbolu pirms izlases debijas EČ finālturnīrā". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 8 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
2. "Uščins nosauc sastāvu eiropas čempionāta finālturnīram". handball.lv. 30 December 2019.
3. "2020 European Men's Handball Championship squad" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
4. "15 fakti, kas jāzina par Latvijas handbolu pirms izlases debijas EČ finālturnīrā". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 8 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.

External links

• Official website
• IHF profile