Starkovs confident of success

Latvia coach Aleksandrs Starkovs is predicting that his team will advance to the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2004™ by beating the Netherlands in the most important game in the country's history tomorrow.

Win needed
Latvia need to win and hope that Germany slip up against the Czech Republic to advance from Group D, having narrowly lost to the Czechs and held the Germans to a goalless draw in their previous two games of the tournament.

Aerial bombardment
Starkovs put his players through heading practice today in the expectation that the Dutch will bombard them with crosses. "I hope first of all that we will use our heads in all senses," he said. "As for aerial challenges, it is clear that against the Dutch this will be a key component of the game. They like to cross from the wings, and our defenders will be busy in the air tomorrow.

Acclaim
"We have played two excellent games, which brought us acclaim from the press, but the last match is the most important and we will do all we possibly can to live up to the earlier praise. I believe that this game will be the last for us in the group stage but not in Portugal."

Lobanevs worry
Latvia's preparations have been marred by a slight injury to defensive midfield player Valentins Lobanevs, who has been one of their key players so far. However, Lobanevs is expected to feature against the Netherlands to win his 50th cap after taking part in full training today.