Latvian belief returns

Mood improving
Starkovs and his squad trained on Wednesday and afterwards the coach spoke about the atmosphere in the camp. "Of course we were disappointed [to lose] because the players didn't arrive here in Portugal just to make up the numbers," he said. "However, the negative feelings are going away with every day. The atmosphere in the team is good."

Pahars practice
The training session was conducted in the usual manner under Starkovs, but midfield player Jurijs Laizans and striker Marians Pahars practised free-kicks for an extended spell, leading to speculation that both could start against Germany. The pair appeared as second-half substitutes against the Czechs.

Tactical reshuffle
Starkovs, however, did not want to reveal his tactics ahead of the game at the Estádio do Bessa Século XXI. "Germany's style of play is quite different from the Czechs'," he said. "We will change our tactics but I am not going to tell you how. I will name the first XI tomorrow as I want all my players to be focused for the start of the match."

Strong Germans
The coach added that he expected to face a strong and powerful Germany team. "We have to come up with something to neutralise [Fredi] Bobic and [Kevin] Kuranyi – they are very dangerous forwards. Germany are very strong and it will be a tough game but we have already proved that we can make life difficult for the favourites."

Völler dream
Starkovs has no injury worries although there is one player he would like to have available. When asked which player he would most like to field against the Germans, Starkovs laughed and said: "I would certainly have liked to have Rudi Völler in my side."