Latvia overcome Baltic neighbours

Latvia 2-1 Lithuania
Latvia recorded a narrow but deserved friendly victory against Baltic neighbours Lithuania in the Turkish resort of Antalya, with the former FC Skonto striker Mihails Miholaps scoring the winner in the 57th minute.

Pahars missing
Latvian coach Aleksandrs Starkovs was already missing striker Marian Pahars and was forced to shuffle his defence after Mihails Zemlinskis withdrew with a knee injury.

Bright start
Lithuania started brightly and Tomas Razanauskas saw a free-kick go just wide while Latvia goalkeeper Alex Kolinko saved well from Edgaras Jankauskas. PFC CSKA Moskva midfield player Juris Laizans then went close with Latvia’s first attack, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Rolandas Karcemarskas.

Latvia opener
On 27 minutes Latvia’s Maris Verpakovskis met an Imants Bleidelis cross from the right and when his shot came back off the post, Andrejs Rubins followed up smartly to score from close range. Lithuania drew level five minutes later when the Latvian left-back Olegs Blagonadezdins deflected a left-wing cross from Jankauskas into his own net.

Miholaps pays dividends
Starkovs replaced Verpakovskis with Miholaps at half-time and on 57 minutes the move paid dividends. The most prolific goalscorer in Latvian league history showed all his predatory instincts, scoring with a close-range header.

Neat touches
Miholaps showed some neat touches and almost extended the lead towards the end of the game, but wasted a goalscoring opportunity when clean through on goal. Latvia's next international will be a friendly on 2 April against Ukraine in Kiev before returning to UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying action against San Marino in Riga on April 30.