Skonto's deadly dozen

By Pavle Gognidze & Mihail Korolev

Latvia is a young country and things are changing fast as the nation hopes to join the European Union. One thing, however, remains the same. As the winter draws near, the Latvian Virlsiga season has ended with FC Skonto winning their title again.

Destiny calls
This year, Latvian pundits ignored the sporting aspects of the thrilling finale to the Virsliga season and talked in terms of fate instead. When a club wins its 12th title in a row - a new European record - it is hard to see their triumph in any other terms than destiny.

Winning streak
Skonto have won titles with huge leads over their rivals and after spectacular comebacks. They have won them with ease and when it seemed impossible. But winning them is what they have done with monotonous regularity since 1990.

Youth system
Skonto have had tough times in the past few years as the likes of Marians Pahars and Igors Stepanovs joined a huge contingent of players leaving the club, but under coach Aleksandrs Starkovs's youth system, there have always been youngsters coming in to replace them.

Ventspils challenge
The past two seasons were extraordinarily tense for Skonto as the port city of Ventspils threatened their stranglehold on the title. FK Ventspils, led by English coach Paul Ashworth, challenged Skonto for the title last season and looked set to win it before losing their two-point advantage on the last day of the season - Ventspils lost 1-0 at FK Dinaburg while Skonto won 2-1 at FHK Liepajas Metalurgs to grab the championship.

Ashworth trauma
The press were moved by the image of disappointed Ventspils players and staff drowning their sorrows with what should have been a triumphant glass of champagne after the game. It seemed at the end of last year that Ashworth's side would never recover from the trauma of defeat.

Repeat performance
But they did, taking a lead from the early stages this season and staying ahead or level with Skonto until the very last day of the season - the day when Skonto were to face Metalurgs, and Ventspils, in a terrifying repeat of the 2001 finale, were away at Dinaburg.

Crunch game
Incredibly, in the crunch game, held in fierce weather conditions, history repeated itself. Dinaburg held Ventspils to a 1-1 draw, and Skonto won 3-1 against Metalurgs to take yet another crown. Every fan in Latvia had one question on their mind - why?

'Champions' spirit'
Skonto said the spirit within the side was the key. "Champions' spirit is to blame," said central defender Mihails Zemlinskis, who has been at Skonto for all 12 championship-winning seasons. "Nobody but us has it in Latvia.

'Internal power'
"The secret is very simple," he added. "We win titles because we earn more points. We earn points because we win more. We win because we are better. And we are better because we have the mental toughness of winners - we have some internal power which tells us we have no competitors."

Starkovs departing
There is another question on everybody's mind. Starkovs is being courted by Russian side FC Zenit St. Petersburg, and it is not clear whether he will stay in Latvia - though his role as coach of the national side may persuade him to stay at Skonto. Would the coach's departure herald the end of Skonto's winning run?

'One day'
Zemlinskis has thought about it. "Of course, it will happen one day," he said. "But I want it to happen as late as possible. For example, after I retire."