Latvia national football team

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Latvia

Association

Latvian Football Federation

Confederation

UEFA (Europe)

Head coach

Jurijs Andrejevs, 2004-

Captain

Vitālijs Astafjevs

Most caps

Vitālijs Astafjevs (129)

Top scorer

Ēriks Pētersons (24)

Home stadium

Skonto stadions

FIFA code

LVA

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

51 (December 2003)

Lowest FIFA ranking

107 (February 2002)

Elo ranking





First kit





Second kit

First international

Latvia 1 - 1 Estonia

(Riga, Latvia; 24 September 1922)

Biggest win

Latvia 6 - 1 Lithuania

(Tallinn, Estonia; 30 May 1935)

Biggest defeat

Sweden 12 - 0 Latvia

(Stockholm, Sweden; 29 May 1927)

European Championship

Appearances

1 (First in 2004)

Best result

Round 1, 2004

The Latvian national football team (Izlase in Latvian) is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia, and represents the country in international football competitions, such as World Cup and the European Championships.

1 History
2 Bad Results
3 World Cup record
4 European Championship record
5 Results and fixtures
- 5.1 Forthcoming fixtures
- 5.2 Recent results
6 Famous players
7 Top Latvia goalscorers
8 Latvia coaches
9 Current roster
10 External links

[edit] History

Latvia played its first match in 1922, a game against Estonia; the result was a 1-1 draw. Latvia is the only Baltic team that has qualified to final stage of European Championship, they won the Baltic Cup 19 times.

In 1940, Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1991 and played their first match as a new nation against Estonia on November 16 of that year in the Baltic Cup, and their first FIFA-recognized match against Romania on April 8, 1992, a 0-2 loss at Bucharest.

Latvia was a surprise qualifier for the 2004 European Football Championship, after defeating Turkey in a playoff to reach the final tournament. In Euro 2004, Latvia was drawn into group D with Germany, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. On June 15, 2004, Latvia played Czech Republic and managed to take a late first half lead with a great goal from Māris Verpakovskis. The Czechs would later come back to win the game 2-1. Four days later Latvia earned a respectable draw 0-0 against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament. Latvia later lost to the Netherlands 3-0, and was eliminated with one point from their draw and two losses.

In the qualifying for World Cup 2006, Latvia was in group 3 with Portugal, Slovakia, Russia, Estonia, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg. Latvia was considered as a small threat for the playoff spot. However, Latvia failed to show any surprises as they did in Euro 2004 and failed to qualify for World Cup 2006 finishing fifth with 15 points from four wins, three draws and five losses.

Vitālijs Astafjevs has played for Latvia more times than anyone else, with 129 caps currently. Ēriks Pētersons is the nation's top goal scorer with 24, while modern-day star Māris Verpakovskis is second with 20.

[edit] Bad Results

2001: Latvia 1-1 San Marino
2007: Luxembourg 0-0 Latvia
2007: Liechtenstein 1-0 Latvia

[edit] World Cup record

1930 to 1934 - Did not enter
1938 - Did not qualify
1950 to 1990 - Did not enter, was part of USSR
1994 to 2006 - Did not qualify

[edit] European Championship record

1960 to 1992 - Did not enter, was part of USSR
1996 - Did not qualify
2000 - Did not qualify
2004 - Round 1

[edit] Results and fixtures

[edit] Forthcoming fixtures

Euro 2008 Qualifying Group F:
- Latvia v Spain, 2 June 2007 at Latvia
- Latvia v Denmark, 6 June 2007 at Latvia
Friendly:
- Latvia v Moldova, August 22, 2007 at Latvia
Euro 2008 Qualifying Group F:
- Latvia v Northern Ireland, 8 September 2007 at Latvia
- Spain v Latvia, 12 September 2007 at Spain
- Iceland v Latvia, 13 October 2007 at Iceland
- Denmark v Latvia, 17 October 2007 at Denmark
- Latvia v Liechtenstein, 17 November 2007 at Latvia
- Sweden v Latvia, 21 November 2007 at Sweden

[edit] Recent results

This is a list of match results from the past year. Goal scorers in brackets.

Euro 2008 Qualifying Group F:
- Liechtenstein 1-0 Latvia, 28 March at Vaduz, Liechtenstein (Liechtenstein: Frick 17)
Cyprus International Tournament 2007:
- Latvia 0-2 Hungary, 7 February at Limassol, Cyprus (Hungary: Priskin 31, 52)
- Bulgaria 2-0 Latvia, 6 February at Larnaca, Cyprus (Bulgaria: Surņins 15 o.g., Yovov 30)
Euro 2008 Qualifying Group F:
- Northern Ireland 1-0 Latvia, 11 October at Belfast, Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland: Healy 35)
- Latvia 4-0 Iceland, 7 October at Riga, Latvia (Latvia: Karlsons 17, Verpakovskis 18, 28, Višņakovs 54)
Friendly:
- Luxembourg 0-0 Latvia, 6 September at Hesperange, Luxembourg
Euro 2008 Qualifying Group F:
- Latvia 0-1 Sweden, 2 September at Riga, Latvia (Sweden: Källström 38)
Friendly:
- Russia 1-0 Latvia, 16 August at Moscow, Russia (Russia: Berezoutski 51)
- USA 1-0 Latvia, 28 May at Hartford, USA

[edit] Famous players

Before 1940:

Ēriks Pētersons
Jānis Lidmanis

After 1991:

[edit] Top Latvia goalscorers

Player	Latvia career	Goals (Caps)
Ēriks Pētersons	1929-1939	24 (63)
Māris Verpakovskis	1999-present	20 (58)
Marians Pahars	1996-present	15 (66)
Alberts Šeibelis	1925-1939	14 (54)
Iļja Vestermans	1935-1938	13 (23)
Mihails Zemļinskis	1992-2005	12 (105)
Vitālijs Astafjevs	1992-present	12 (129)
Juris Laizāns	1998-present	11 (79)
Arnolds Tauriņš	1925-1935	10 (39)

[edit] Latvia coaches

Coach	Latvia career
Jānis Gilis	1992-1997
Revaz Dzodzuashvili	1998-1999
Gary Johnson	1999-2001
Aleksandrs Starkovs	2001-2004
Jurijs Andrejevs	2004-

[edit] Current roster

See the EURO 2004 squad.

This is the team called up to play Liechtenstein in Euro 2008 Qualifiers

Goalkeepers

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)
Aleksandrs Koļinko	June 18, 1975	FC Rubin Kazan	73 (0)
Andrejs Piedels	September 17, 1970	Skonto FC	14 (0)
Andris Vaņins	April 30, 1980	FK Ventspils	5 (0)

Defenders

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)
Igors Stepanovs	January 21, 1976	Esbjerg fB	91 (3)
Dzintars Zirnis	April 25, 1977	Liepājas Metalurgs	44 (0)
Māris Smirnovs	June 2, 1976	FC Dinamo Bucureşti	22 (0)
Oskars Kļava	August 8, 1983	Liepājas Metalurgs	11 (0)
Deniss Ivanovs	January 11, 1984	Liepājas Metalurgs	6 (0)
Kaspars Gorkšs	November 6, 1981	Blackpool F.C.	5 (0)
Deniss Kačanovs	November 27, 1979	FK Ventspils	5 (0)

Midfielders

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)
Vitālijs Astafjevs	April 3, 1971	Skonto FC	131 (12)
Imants Bleidelis	August 16, 1975	FK Jūrmala	98 (10)
Juris Laizāns	January 6, 1979	FC Kuban Krasnodar	79 (11)
Viktors Morozs	July 30, 1980	Skonto FC	21 (0)
Aleksejs Višņakovs	February 3, 1984	Skonto FC	19 (3)
Pāvels Surņins	August 4, 1985	Liepājas Metalurgs	2 (0)
Andrejs Perepļotkins	December 27, 1984	Skonto FC	0 (0)
Aleksandrs Cauņa	January 19, 1988	Skonto FC	0 (0)

Strikers

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)
Marian Pahars	August 5, 1976	Anorthosis Famagusta	68 (15)
Māris Verpakovskis	October 15, 1979	Getafe CF	60 (20)
Andrejs Prohorenkovs	February 5, 1977	Racing de Ferrol	31 (4)
Ģirts Karlsons	June 7, 1981	Liepājas Metalurgs	15 (4)

[edit] External links

International football

v • d • e

Asia: AFC – Asian Cup

Africa: CAF – African Cup of Nations

North America: CONCACAF – Gold Cup

South America: CONMEBOL – Copa América

Oceania: OFC – Nations Cup

Europe: UEFA – European Championship

Non-FIFA: NF-Board – VIVA World Cup

National football teams of Europe (UEFA)

v • d • e

Football in Latvia v • d • e
Latvian Football Federation • National team • Virsliga • 1. Liga • Latvian Cup • Clubs • Footballers Stadiums • Latvian Footballer of the Year