ATHENS, Greece — Tomorrow evening Latvia will take on Greece in one of the most decisive games of football in the country’s history.
Not since the heady days of Nov. 2003 has Latvia come this close to qualifying for a major football event. On that occasion the goal was Euro 2004 and the hurdle was Turkey. This time the goal is the World Cup 2010 and the hurdle is Greece. By just making the Euro 2004 tournament Latvia were runners-up in the category of tourny fairytale. On that occasion, it was tomorrow’s opponent Greece that took the honors for the fairytale story by winning the tournament.
However, before we get too carried away we should state that even if Latvia do manage to upset Greece tomorrow evening they still have to defeat Moldova at home and will have to be placed as one of the best eight second-placed sides emerging from pool play, where they will then be involved in a play-off system with the best four second-placed teams qualifying. It is a lot for one to get their head around, so one should simply focus on the first hurdle.
Greece and Latvia are currently tied in second-place in group two on 14 points apiece. Greece do however have the slight advantage in that they have conceded one less goal. Nipping at their ankles is Israel who have the ability to move into second spot if tomorrow night’s game ends in a stalemate. Switzerland already looked destined to top the group whilst Luxembourg and Moldova look destined to become footnotes in the history book as also-rans.
On paper, few would go past Greece of beating Latvia tomorrow evening. In their previous pool-play encounter, back in September last year, Greece encountered few problems in disposing of Latvia, who were playing at home, 2-0.
However Latvia has come a long way in the past year, while Greece has fallen off pace. A historic win in Israel just over a month ago followed up by a 1-1 draw against Switzerland at home gives Latvia plenty of momentum going into the game. No doubt the success of Latvian domestic side FK Ventspils in Europa League has also spurred on the Latvians, with many of the national team played on the Ventspils side.
Latvia will be looking to their senior players to carry them through, with some being present almost six years ago when Latvia beat Turkey. However, the younger players must also stand up and be counted, especially with the absence of two regulars Aleksejs Višņakovs and Juris Zhigajevs who have not traveled to Athens for the game.
balticreports.com prediction: We are stuck firmly in the Latvian camp and with only one eye open we can only vision a 1-0 victory for Latvia.
