Astafjevs relishing record feat

By Mihail Korolovs & Luke Williams

Latvia captain Vitalis Astafjevs will reach the 100-cap landmark if coach Aleksandrs Starkovs selects him for Wednesday evening's friendly against Slovenia in Celje.

No nerves now
With his country's international tournament debut at UEFA EURO 2004™ fast approaching Astafjevs already has plenty to celebrate. The 32-year-old VfB Admira Wacker Mödling player said: "I'm not nervous right now but I might be later. I am ready to play as always. I don't think about records, however, I remember all my matches for the national team.

'Biggest memory'
"Of course the biggest memory is my debut - we played against defending European champions Denmark," he continued. "I came off the bench and helped my team-mates secure a goalless draw."

'Great achievement'
A central midfield player, Astafjevs has been a mainstay of the side for nearly 12 years now. "I think it is a great achievement," coach Starkovs said of Astafjevs. "One hundred games for the national team is a great example of his professionalism. I don't think there will be many players at EURO 2004™ who have such experience."

Starkovs concern
Astafjevs aside, Starkovs sounded a little concerned with all the attention his side had been getting since reaching Portugal. "The preparation for this game has not been usual," Starkovs said. "EUR0 2004™ is coming soon, so there is a lot of interest in our team. This disturbs us a bit because we are not used to such interest.

Good result needed
"The match against the Slovenians is very important - we have to try out some players, check some tactical nuances and achieve a good result." Such results have been conspicuously lacking of late, with the Latvians losing to Kuwait, Hungary and Belarus, albeit with under-strength sides, against a sole victory against Kazakhstan.

Positive result essential
"I am sure that we can't prepare well for Portugal if the team loses match after match because the players won't have any self-confidence," Starkovs added. With a full squad back at his disposal, the coach sees a positive result as essential.

Slovenian inspiration
He is also keen to also take inspiration from his Slovenian opponents, who four years ago were in Latvia's shoes, having qualified for the European Championship as rank outsiders. "Their participation in the European Championship was a good example to us," Starkovs said. "We saw small Slovenia reaching their goal and realised that we could do this too. And we did! Slovenia have many strong players and Zlatko Zahovic is a real star of the modern game. It will be very hard to get a good result in Ljubljana."

Prasnikar aims
Zahovic, as well as fellow midfield player Miran Pavlin, has reneged on a pledge to retire from international football, to the delight of coach Bojan Prašnikar, who is building towards the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. "Against Latvia we will try to continue developing our system of play and I hope to make some progress," Prašnikar said. "A good result is not our primary aim, but in front of our home fans it is always nice to win."

Vivid displays
At EURO 2000™ Slovenia fell in the group stage, but won hearts across Europe with a series of vivid displays. Latvia have a lot to live up to this summer as they fly the flag of the underdog.