Artur Pikk pulled on his Estonia shirt, walked onto the pitch and spent 90 minutes defending the likes of Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Adam Lallana. Then he bolted back to his army base and was back in his barracks before midnight curfew.
Estonian player reports back to military duty after match vs. England
You just played against Wayne Rooney! Now get back to the barracks.
Shaun Botterill
Such is the nature of being in the Estonian army, and a national team player.
All Estonian males must serve eight months in the army, while top athletes only have to serve three. The 21-year-old Pikk figured that if he joined up now, he would be home for the holidays so he started his three months of service and figured he would be no worse off. He got to train with his club team when the army allowed it and, while he was named to the 30-man preliminary roster for Euro 2016 qualifiers against Lithuania and England, he wasn't supposed to join up with the team.
Pikk is Estonia’s third-choice left back, on call just for emergencies. But after the first choice left back was injured and the second choice was shown a red card against Lithuania, Estonia had a left back emergency and Pikk got the call. The manager filed a request with the Estonian Defense Forces to have Pikk be released for the match, which was granted, and he played 90 minutes against England.
And he made it back to the barracks by midnight to avoid any trouble, and just in time to get some sleep before his 6 a.m. wake-up call.
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