Latvia v Netherlands background
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Article summary
Latvia will hope to improve on the 6-0 defeat they suffered in Amsterdam in the sides' first Group A meeting as the Netherlands head north in search of three more points.
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Having lost heavily in both of their previous encounters with the Netherlands, Latvia will look to at least get their first goal against the Oranje as the sides reconvene in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group A.
Previous meetings
• The Netherlands beat Latvia 6-0 in Amsterdam in November – a rare celebration in what has been a difficult campaign for the Oranje.
• In their only previous encounter, Dick Advocaat's Netherlands beat Aleksandrs Starkovs' Latvia 3-0 in Braga in the Baltic nation's final UEFA EURO 2004 game – the heaviest defeat of what remains their only finals campaign to date.
• The teams for that match on 23 June 2004 were:
Netherlands: Van der Sar, Reiziger, Stam, Van Bronckhorst, Cocu, Van der Meyde (Overmars 63), Davids (Sneijder 77), Van Nistelrooy (Makaay 70), Frank de Boer, Robben, Seedorf.
Latvia: Koļinko, Stepanovs, Astafjevs, Zemļinskis, Blagonadeždins, Isakovs, Bleidelis (Štolcers 83), Verpakovskis (Pahars 62), Rubins, Prohorenkovs (Laizāns 74), Lobaņovs.
Form guide
• Latvia have yet to win a Group A game but earned encouraging draws against Turkey (1-1 at home) and the Czech Republic (1-1 away).
• The Netherlands are five points adrift of the top two in Group A, having won just two of their five Group A matches. They have lost both of their away fixtures in the section.
Trivia and links
• Netherlands defender Ricardo van Rhijn turns 24 the day after the Latvia game.
• Latvia's Artjoms Rudņevs and the Netherlands' Rafael van der Vaart are club-mates at Hamburger SV.
• Robin van Persie has scored 49 international goals.
• The Netherlands have won all eight of the nations' meetings in UEFA age-group competitions, most recently beating Latvia 2-1 in Belgium in a 2012 Under-17 qualifier.
• In six UEFA meetings between the nations' clubs, the Dutch sides' record is W4 D1 L1, with 26 goals scored and four conceded. That lone Latvian victory was a 3-2 success for SK Liepājas Metalurgs at home against sc Heerenveen in the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Heerenveen won the return fixture 6-1.