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Latvia's Rakeļs denies Kazakhstan

Published: Thursday 6 September 2012, 18.55CET
Latvia 1-1 Kazakhstan
Deniss Rakeļs hit Latvia's first goal in Group 9 to cancel out Yermek Kuantayev's opener and ensure another draw between the bottom two.
by Dennis Novitsky
from Zemgales Olympic Centre
Latvia's Rakeļs denies Kazakhstan
Deniss Rakeļs (left) in action during Latvia's home draw with Kazakhstan ©Roman Koksharov
 

Matches

Road to the final

The 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship comprises a qualifying group stage and play-off round to determine which seven teams join hosts Israel in the final tournament.

Qualifying group stage

Teams are split into ten groups – two of six teams and eight of five – and play each other on a home and away basis. The ten group winners and four runners-up with the best record against the teams first, third, fourth and fifth in their sections advance to the play-offs.

Play-offs
Play-off matches are played according to the knockout system, with each team playing each opponent home and away. The team which scores the greater aggregate of goals qualifies for the next round, with away goals, extra time and then penalties used to determine the winner in the event of a draw.

Final tournament
The final tournament comprises the seven play-off winners and Israel, who qualify automatically as hosts. The eight teams are split into two groups of four. Each team plays each other once in their group with the winners and runners-up advancing to the semi-finals where the winner of Group A plays the Group B runner-up and vice-versa. The winners advance to the final.

Further details, including the criteria for separating teams that finish level on points in a group, can be found in the official competition regulations.

Published: Thursday 6 September 2012, 18.55CET

Latvia's Rakeļs denies Kazakhstan

Latvia 1-1 Kazakhstan
Deniss Rakeļs hit Latvia's first goal in Group 9 to cancel out Yermek Kuantayev's opener and ensure another draw between the bottom two.

Deniss Rakeļs hit Latvia's first goal in Group 9 to cancel out Yermek Kuantayev's opening effort for Kazakhstan and earn the home side a deserved point in Jelgava.

After precisely 615 scoreless minutes in this qualification campaign – 75 minutes tonight plus six previous matches – Rakeļs got his team off the mark at last when he sent a gorgeous volley flying into the top corner from Roberts Savaļnieks' cross. Following on from the teams' 0-0 draw in June, the result means both are still without a victory in the section.

Kazakhstan survived a scare early in the match when Eduards Višņakovs put a clear header wide in the 17th minute. However, the visitors then went in front when Kuantayev capitalised on slack home defending with a straightforward finish in the 57th minute. With one game left each, Kazakhstan are two points clear of the bottom-placed Latvians, who have just two points to their name.

Last updated: 09/05/13 11.19CET

Related information

Player profiles
Team profiles

http://www.uefa.com/under21/season=2013/matches/round=2000192/match=2006959/postmatch/report/index.html#rakels+ends+latvia+drought

Lineups

See also

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