Israel and Latvia look for lift-off
Monday, January 10, 2011
Article summary
Level on four points after as many Group F games, Israel and Latvia will look to relaunch their bids for a UEFA EURO 2012 place with a victory in their first competitive game of 2011.
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Article body
Level on four points after as many Group F games, Israel and Latvia will look to relaunch their bids for a UEFA EURO 2012 place with a victory in their first competitive game of 2011.
Match background
• The teams have met on four previous occasions, with Israel's record in those matches reading W2 D1 L1 (W1 D0 L1 at home).
• The sides first met in a friendly game in Riga on 17 May 1998 which Israel won 5-1. A further friendly in Jerusalem on 24 February 1999 ended in a 2-0 win for the hosts.
• The tide has turned since then, with Latvia holding the upper hand in the countries' most recent meetings in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. On 15 October 2008, they drew 1-1 in Riga, Vladimirs Kolesņičenko cancelling out Yossi Benayoun's opener.
• Latvia then pulled off something of a surprise in the return fixture, Kaspars Gorkšs scoring the only goal to earn them a 1-0 win in Tel Aviv on 5 September 2009. That strike ended Israel's 15-year unbeaten home run in World Cup qualifiers.
