Latvia brought back to earth

By Pavle Gognidze

Latvia face Kazakhstan on Wednesday afternoon in Larnaca as part of the eight-team Cyprus international tournament.

Two more matches
Win or lose, the competition will provide the Latvians with two further matches on Thursday and Saturday as they continue preparations for their first major finals appearance at UEFA EURO 2004™ this summer in Portugal.

Best eleven
However, with Vitalis Astafjevs, Maris Verpakovskis, Aleksandrs Kolinko and Marians Pahars travelling back to their clubs after Wednesday's game, the Kazakhstan match is coach Aleksandrs Starkovs' sole chance to see his best eleven in action. "We want success here in Cyprus, as only victories help establish a strong winning mentality," Starkovs said.

Back to their clubs
"[Against Kazakhstan] we have all our strongest players at our disposal, aside from those who are injured," he added. "And when Astafjevs, Verpakovskis, Kolinko and Pahars travel back to their clubs we will have a chance to look at the likes of Kristaps Blanks, Gatis Kalninš, Girts Karlsons."

Missing players
Among the players excluded from the Cypriot jaunt are defender Olegs Blagonadeždins and striker Mihails Miholaps, who have been allowed to stay at FC Alania Vladikavkaz to adjust to life under new coach Rolland Courbis. Meanwhile, Skonto FC midfield player Igors Semjonovs has been ruled out of the Kazakh clash with a cold and goalkeeper Andrejs Piedels is injured.

Korablevs call-up
Other players sidelined by various knocks and strains are strikers Andrejs Prohorenkovs, Viktors Dobrecovs and Andrejs Štolcers while defender Igors Korablevs has been replaced by Vladimirs Žavoronkovs after picking up an injury in training.

'Forget euphoria'
After the high emotion of qualifying for Portugal, Starkovs' main task is bringing players and fans back down to earth. "I care more about the present than the future at present," he said. "The most important thing for us is to forget the euphoric mood we were in after beating Turkey [in the qualifying play-offs]. Euphoria, of course, is understandable and pleasant, but we have to prove that success was not a coincidence now."

'Positive approach'
Starkovs also expanded on the rationale behind a relatively sedate programme of friendlies - Kazakhstan, for example, are world-ranked 135th by FIFA. "We need a positive approach before EURO 2004™," he said. "In a friendly against Italy or England we could lose by a big margin. Imagine the mood our national side would then be in travelling to Portugal. However, Slovenia and Iceland, along with the teams we will face here in Cyprus, are not weak sides - we still have to do our best to beat them."