Latvia

Yes to Europe, yes to the Euro

Two months after accepting admission to the European Union in an historic referendum, Latvia joined the continent's elite football clique with an unexpected qualification to the Euro 2004 finals.

"You fought like lions," declared Latvia president Vaira Vike-Freiberga of the team nicknamed "The golden boys".

Latvia, a Baltic state of 2.4 million people, regained independence in 1991, 51 years after being occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union.

Out at the finals Latvia have the chance to truly put themselves in the map after being drawn in Group D against footballing giants Germany, Holland and the Czech Republic.

During qualifying they were mediocre at home drawing with group winners Sweden and losing to Poland, but made up for this with strong away performances.

Maximum points against San Marino and Poland set them up for the decisive last match, when they went to Sweden and came away with a 1-0 win.

Then came the drama of the play-offs and a first-leg 1-0 win in Riga before further tension four days later in Istanbul.

Coach Aleksandr Starkovs saw his side fall behind 2-0 after an hour, but in 12 minutes of madness, Latvia scored twice to go 3-2 up on aggregate and send a mortified Turkey and their fans crashing out.

Well-balanced team

Latvia have nothing to fear in Portugal for what will be their first ever appearance at a major tournament.

"Our strength is that we have a well-balanced team," said Starkovs. And he should know, he is also coach at Skonto Riga whose players make up the backbone of the national team.

The team play a 4-4-2 line-up built to counter-attack to best exploit the speed skill of the players, as Turkey can testify.

They have experience in defence with Michail Zemlinskis and Oleg Blagonadezdins, while Aleksandrs Kolinko provides reliable service in goal.

In midfield Vitalijs Astafievs has over a 100 caps and is well supported by Andrejs Rubins and Imants Bleidelis.

Up front, the main source of goals is 24-year-old Maris Verpakovskis, who scored four times in the last four qualifiers as well as twice against the Turks.

Marian Pahars, who plays his club football in England for Southampton, is also another option for the Starkovs.

The tournament in Portugal will allow this little known team a chance to prove ice-hockey, Latvia's national sport, is not the only game they know how to play.

Factfile on Latvia

Population

2.4 million

Area

64,000 km2

Capital

Riga

Currency

Latvian Lats

Federation

Latvijas Futbola Federacija, 1921-1940 (then became part of the USSR)

Affiliated to FIFA

1922, reaffiliated in 1991 (after gaining independence

Affiliated to UEFA

1992

Registed players

8,000

Colours

Red shirts, red shorts, red socks

Top clubs

Skonto FC, FK Ventspils

World Cup appearances

0

European Championship appearances

1 (2004)

How they qualified

Finished second in Group 4 with 16 points (5 wins, 1 draw, 2 defeats, 10 goals for, 6 against) behind Sweden (17 pts), and ahead of Poland (13pts), Hungary (11pts) and San Marino (0pts). Qualified by beating Turkey 3-2 on aggregate in two-legged play-offs

Key players

Aleksandrs Kolinko, Vitalijs Astafjevs, Michail Zemlinskis, Imants Bleidelis, Andrejs Rubins, Maris Verpakovskis

Coach

Aleksandrs Starkovs