Going into their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign, there was little that suggested Latvia would be anything but an easy victim for the fancied teams from Sweden, Hungary and Poland.After all, the country had picked up a mere four points from their 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign from a group that included European footballing minnows San Marino, who held the Latvians to a draw in Riga. Luckily, there were not much more than 500 people on hand to witness this embarrassment.Latvia thus had the benefit of going into their Euro 2004 campaign without any pressure and without fans expecting much. That soon changed though as a draw at home with group favourites Sweden and victories in Poland and against San Marino (twice) suddenly put the country on Europe’s footballing map.Two successive defeats in Hungary and at home to Poland seemed to have restored the order of things and with two games remaining, Latvia were fourth in the group.In the penultimate round of matches a 3-1 victory at home over Hungary and a 2-0 defeat for Poland in Chorzow against Sweden, saw the Latvians jump two places into second place behind the already-qualified Swedes. Latvia had to travel to Sweden for their final game, knowing that a victory would ensure them a place in the play-offs. They did just that, though Polish and Hungarian fans were later to complain that the Swedes did not put in as much effort as they had in their previous games.In the play-offs, the Latvians were dealt a difficult task as they were drawn against Turkey, who a year earlier had finished third at the World Cup. Maris Verpakovskis stunned the visitors with a strike on the half hour that gave the Latvians victory.Few doubted though that Turkey would manage to turn things around in front of their fanatical supporters in Istanbul and when Ilhan Mansiz gave the home side an early lead, the Latvian Euro 2004 dream seemed to be coming towards an end. Hakan Sukur scored a second goal for his side midway through the second half and had the score remained, the Turks would have advanced. The Turkish joy was short lived though as Verpakovskis scored his second in as many games two minutes later.Jurijs Laizans, who scored Latvia’s first goal in the qualifying campaign against Poland in October 2002, scored their last against Turkey in the 78th minute to give Latvia the draw that ensured a first-ever participation at a major football tournament for Latvia.In Portugal, Latvia will contest a tough group containing Germany, Netherlands and the Czech Republic and it would be an even bigger shock if they manage to progress to the second phase.
