Ice Hockey World Championships | The president of Latvia rushed into the dressing room of the World Cup heroes – looking for the legend of the Lions in his hands

Sport|Ice Hockey World Championships

Tampere

Latvian not many ten minutes had passed since the bronze sensation, when the president of the country Egils Levits was already in the team’s dressing room talking and celebrating.

Participating in the festive fun was the legend of the Lions, who worked as Latvia’s assistant coach in the World Cup Petteri Nummelin50.

Nummelin stayed for a long time in the Latvian dressing room and at first refused to come to the interview area at all. Latvia’s background forces signaled that Nummelin was completely tired.

After a while, however, Nummelin stepped in front of the media with a smile on his face.

“After the game I felt great relief, happiness and very tired”, Nummelin sighed.

“It has been a long time here and we had to fight until the very end. Usually at this point the body gives up, and fatigue sets in quickly,” said Nummelin, tired but happy.

Defenders Nummelin, who was responsible for gambling in the Latvian team, revealed that the president of Latvia had come to express his personal thanks to him.

“He came to congratulate and say that it’s great that we got help from the outside,” the defense legend said.

“There we talked in English.”

This was Nummelin’s first season in the Latvian national team, and the result was immediately the best possible: Latvia won its first World Cup medal.

Nummelin compared Latvia’s bronze medal to the Lions’ 1995 world championship.

“This means everything to Latvians. The boys in the booth were completely confused. This means exactly the same as what it meant for Finland high five.”

Nummelin knows what he’s talking about, because he was part of Leijoni’s first championship team.

The lion legend didn’t have the faintest idea how the party night of the Latvian sensational team would continue.

“At least I’m waiting to get to the hotel to take a shower and sleep,” Nummelin said.

to Tampere the thousand-strong Latvian audience that arrived made an insane noise throughout the match. Such a loud commotion that even Nummelin got completely confused.

“When I looked into the stands after the game, I forgot for a moment what country we are in. It was a great sight!”

At least hundreds of thousands of people are expected for Monday’s medal ceremony in Riga.

In the bronze match, Latvia defeated the United States in overtime 4–3.