At the World Championship in Finland, the Latvians will have the most difficult game schedule, but the training schedule is already adjusted to it. For example, the game against Norway, which could be decisive for reaching the quarter-finals, will await the Latvians the very next day after the meeting with the current champions of the USA, whom Sorokin considers to be uncomfortable opponents.
The Latvian national team cannot run with the opponents, but the team will have to work according to a well-thought-out game plan in order to physically withstand all the games in the group at an equally high level, emphasized Sorokin.
The coach considers the big contribution of all lines of play to be an important condition, and quality performance will be necessary both in goal, in defense and in attack.
Sorokin added that the team has been able to create a lot of goal-scoring opportunities in the test tournaments so far, and the coach expects more results than in last year’s championship, where the team scored six goals in five games.
As the national team gathers for the last stage of preparation, Sorokin has the outlines of the composition already half clear. According to him, maybe five more hockey players need to show themselves in order to fight for a place in the team. Sorokin expects that the team could be physically more powerful than a year ago, besides, this year’s national team model had a fuller preparation with the gathering of candidates in the summer as well.
The coach has the opportunity to see the progress of players in different countries and teams throughout the year, and technology makes it easy enough to follow not just a team, but even a specific player.
It also allows for early evaluation if a player does not fit the style of play in the national team.
Sorokin considers the playing of young people in teams with more experienced hockey players to be an important indicator of the skills of national team candidates. More than 90% of the candidates for the national team played at a higher level than they should have according to their year of birth, including abroad.
“It makes us happy, and it could give us a big contribution, said Sorokin. “First of all, we want to get to the quarterfinals and not just play there. We want every team to go to the field with the hope of victory.”
On the other hand, the sports director of the Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF) Edgars Buncis emphasized that the U-18 national team will play at the elite level in the world championship for the sixth time in a row.
Candidates for the national team gathered in training camps four times since the summer, which allowed the coaches to evaluate 87 players in a sufficiently extensive process.
The U-18 national team will begin their pre-World Cup test series at the weekend with two home matches against their Polish peers. Next, on April 11 and 12, the Latvians will wait for test matches away against the Czech Republic, while on April 22, at the venue of the championship in Finland, the last test against Sweden is still scheduled.
Sorokin is pleased with the opportunity to meet serious opponents in test matches. According to him, the Czechs will claim the highest medals in the championship and will be a TOP3 contender.
The Latvian national team against the Czech Republic is scheduled to have the last serious test for an expanded pool of candidates, while against the Swedes the half-ready squad for the world championship will play.
The coaches also keep in mind that Helsinki is not far away, and some of the players who stayed at home will have to be ready as the closest reserves to go immediately to the championship in Finland if necessary.
The U-18 World Championship will be held in Espoo and Vantaa, suburbs of Helsinki, from April 25 to May 5. The opponents of the Latvian national team in the group stage will be the youth of Finland (April 25), Slovakia (April 26), the USA (April 28) and Norway (April 29). The four strongest teams of the group will enter the quarter-finals.
