Latvia have only appeared once at a major tournament, when the
team coached by Aleksandrs Starkovs recorded a narrow play-off
victory over Turkey to qualify for the 2004 UEFA European
Championship in Portugal. The Latvians finished bottom of Group D
at the finals, although their scoreless draw with Germany rated as
a hugely creditable result.
Qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ was a less
successful affair for this nation of two million people. Grouped
with Portugal, Slovakia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and
neighbouring Russia and Estonia, the Latvians finished a
disappointing fifth in the section. Among a string of below-par
results, only 1-1 draws at home to Russia and away to the Slovaks
offered any kind of encouragement for the future.
Starkovs' successor Juris Andrejevs was simply unable to
rekindle the spirit of the EURO 2004 qualifying campaign, prompting
the 51-year-old to quit as national coach in late March 2007 in the
wake of a 1-0 defeat to Liechtenstein in a EURO 2008 qualifier.
Presumably thinking back to the heroics of the previous continental
qualification campaign, the Latvian Football Association turned to
a familiar face in their attempt to steady the ship, and re-hired
Aleksandrs Starkovs as national coach.
While it was too late for the former Spartak Moscow boss to
repair the damage already done in EURO 2008 qualifying, the team at
least gave their fans a glimmer of hope with a 1-0 victory at home
to Northern Ireland. The fact the three points were earned with an
own goal failed to affect a new mood of optimism in the Baltic
state, a situation confirmed by the team's respectable showing
in a recent 2-0 defeat in Spain. Latvia then travelled to Iceland
and won 4-2, taking both the home team and many commentators by
surprise. Striker Maris Verpakovskis, on the books at Croatian club
Hajduk Split, claimed the man of the match accolade with a brace in
the away triumph.
Tough draw
The encouraging run-in to EURO 2008 qualifying
could not alter Latvia's fifth-placed finish in UEFA Group 5,
ahead only of Iceland and Liechtenstein. Starkovs's men managed
four victories but lost on eight occasions, although a scoring
record of 15 goals for and only 17 against suggests the East
Europeans were a trifle hard done by in terms of their final points
total.
In any case, results at the end of 2007 point to a much
brighter future for Latvian football. Starkovs appears to have
transformed a side which plumbed the depths in late March 2007,
forming a revitalised and cohesive unit now determined to put up a
good show in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.
That said, last November's draw in Durban was hardly kind to
the men from the Baltic. Latvia were drawn to face Greece, Israel,
Switzerland, Moldova and Luxembourg in Group 2, and will certainly
require a little luck in their quest for a debut appearance at
football's premier competition.
Coach Starkovs has clearly made a good start, but the task
now is to build on the foundation provided by star striker
Verpakovskis and fashion a squad capable of competing in the
challenging European qualifying competition. Latvia sent out a
strong signal to their future opponents in early February with a
morale-boosting 3-1 win away to Georgia.
The good result earned the Latvians 38 points in the
FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, enough to improve their position by
no less than 13 places to 72nd spot, leaving them ahead of nations
such as China PR, Slovenia and Austria.
If coach Starkovs can maintain the momentum generated over
the last eight months or so, Latvia could be poised for another
star turn on the international stage. The diminutive nation needs
to capitalise on the current upward trend, pooling energies and
resources in the months remaining until the start of FIFA World Cup
qualifying in September.
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