Latvia happier than Kazakhstan with draw

• Visitors Latvia happier than Kazakhstan with their opening Group A draw in Astana
• Kazakhstan coach Yuri Krasnozhan felt his team should have been looking to win
• Latvia's Marians Pahars satisfied with the point after a difficult trip 
• Visiting defender Kaspars Gorkšs believes "the result is fair"

Yuri Krasnozhan, Kazakhstan coach
The lads are unhappy. We drew with this team seven months ago. They were pretty happy with that result. Now we can see things have changed in terms of expectations.

Today on the right wing we decided to play Sergei Khizhnichenko [rather than in-form Ulan Konysbayev]. You know, it's good competition. But we still rely on Ulan. He has really good skills which will be needed in our future games. Nothing has changed [with Samat Smakov] after he took the captain's armband. He doesn't need this to take a position of leadership. He is a leader by nature.

Marians Pahars, Latvia coach
In general we are satisfied with the result. Kazakhstan surprised us a bit with their speed and movement, and very good use of wide areas. At first we didn't know how to deal with that. We started better but then sat back; they had a series of throw-ins and corners which caused jitters among our players. But in the second half we played a little better.

Kazakhstan had the support of the fans at home. I think any team would have problems here, even the Netherlands. Don't forget that we had a difficult trip, and the pitch in Astana is not what we are used to. It's good we didn't concede, and thus didn't start the tournament with a defeat. The result is positive for us. It was a match of equal opponents.

Samat Smakov, Kazakhstan midfielder
We really wanted to win but unfortunately were not able to convert at least one of our opportunities. I cannot blame any of my team-mates – they all gave everything tonight. We fought and did everything to cheer our fans and live up to their expectations. Each of the next matches will be more difficult, but I am sure we will be progressing from game to game.

Ilia Vorotnikov, Kazakhstan defender
Despite the fact that our opponents' defensive organisation was really good, we had some chances. Unfortunately we could not score and we did not fulfil our coach's plan. This was the reason for our failure. Yes, I consider the draw a failure because we have to win at home against such opponents as Latvia.

Kaspars Gorkšs, Latvia defender
I guess the result is fair. The hosts dominated and had more possession but we produced dangerous counterattacks and had some great moments, such as when Vladislavs Gabovs did not score when one against one and Andrejs Kovaļovs hit the crossbar. So I do not think any team deserved three points. It was an even match.