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Municipal de Aveiro stadium saw the end of the first Group D match, in which the Czech national team, after a very intense battle, defeated Latvia with a score of 2-1 in their debut match at the European Championship.
Latvia - Czech Republic 1 - 2
45' (1 - 0)
73' (1 - 1)
85' (1 - 2)
At the beginning of the first half, the Latvia national team silenced all skeptics who thought that Latvians had no chance against the stronger Czech team. The field saw a close battle from the first minutes, and although the Czechs controlled the ball longer, the Latvian players dangerously counterattacked.
In the 9th minute, after a pass from Pavel Nedved, Marek Jankulovski took a dangerous shot at the goal, but the ball flew next to the post. This was perhaps the most dangerous chance for both teams in the first 15 minutes. As the half drew to a close, Latvian defender Michailis Zemlinskis made a mistake and Jan Koller jumped ahead of the Latvian goalkeeper Aleksandrs Kolinko, but he played securely, pushing the ball away from the goal.
The goal for the Czech team came in the final minute of added time when after a swift counterattack, Maris Verpakovskis, who had been a constant threat to the opponent's goal throughout the half, received a pass from the left by Andrejs Prohorenkovs and sent the ball into the net of the Czech national team, much to the delight of all Latvian fans in the stadium, among whom the Lithuanian tricolor flag was waving.
The second half started with the Czechs attacking relentlessly. Several times, Karel Poborsky took shots from afar, but failed to create a significant threat to the Latvian goal.
In the 56th minute, Czech national team coach Karel Brückner decided to take a big risk and brought on forward Marek Heinz instead of defender Zdenek Grygera. As it turned out, this was a decisive change.
The Czech attacks continued, and in the 64th minute, after a precise pass from Karel Poborsky, Milan Baros found himself free in the penalty area but failed to hit the target.
However, the goal into Latvia's net came in the 73rd minute when Poborsky, showcasing his dribbling skills on the side of the pitch, accurately passed the ball to Baros in the penalty area, and he turned around and sent it into the Latvian national team's goal.
After conceding the goal, the Latvians were shaken, and in the 83rd minute, they were lucky as Heinz's shot from a distance bounced off the crossbar. Two minutes later, defenders and the goalkeeper made a mistake, and Heinz scored into the unguarded goal, leading the Czech national team ahead. Neither team created any dangerous opportunities for the rest of the match, and it ended with the Czech team celebrating a hard-fought victory with a score of 2-1.
Statistics
Shots: 28 (Czech Republic) and 7 (Latvia)
Shots on goal: 8 and 2
Passes: 559 and 310
Successful passes: 434 and 181
Corners: 13 and 3
Fouls: 11 and 20
Offsides: 6 and 1
Ball possession: 64% and 36%
